Genesis of Infinity
by Shiroyanagi
Summary: In the time when the two worlds have become one there still lurks a threat to the new world the heroes strived to create.Kratos has returned and the heroes need to retreive a powerful object before a new evil gets ahold of it.My TOS sequel.Oyako moments
1. Welcome Home

GENESIS OF INFINITY

CHAPTER 1

WELCOME HOME

"Have they all been gathered?"

"Yes, My lord."

"Very well. Prepare for disposal."

The stars, although billions of light years away, shone brightly and pierced the vast darkness that is space. However, even the stars' glow was not infinite in the eyes of the lonely traveler. In space they shone the same, but they were empty when compared to the ancient, comforting light that he viewed from the ground. Here they were merely orbs of illumination, while on the land they were almost like guardian spirits overseeing all of mankind.

The lone figure looked out at the stars through the glass ceilings of Welgaia. They had always given him comfort throughout the thousands of years of his life. Now they only reminded him of the hole in his heart.

He turned around and walked away, his flaming hair covering his equally scarlet eyes. Sapphire wings shot from his back and he quickly made his way to the outskirts of the city. There, a huge mound of crystals was stacked up and a few angels here and there were piling the last few exspheres they could find.

"That should be the last of them, Lord Kratos," an angel reported to the red-head.

"Please, no 'lord' nonsense," Kratos muttered, slightly annoyed (believe it or not), "Alright, clear the area. When you're ready, open the hatch."

"Attention! Clear the area, preparations for exsphere deployment are in effect," the angel called out to the stragglers.

In the haste a single angel was left to stumble to the pile, a crystal clutched tightly in her hand. For a member of the soldier-swordsman class, she was fairly clumsy as she ran, unlike the straight, strict stride expected of an angel. Her face was also unlike any other of the angels: softer, as if she knew how to smile. When she reached the hill, she carefully placed the clear, spectral-colored crystal down.

"Number 265! Clear the area!" said one of the other angels.

"Ah! Right away!" she said, slightly flustered.

A ghost of a smile played across Kratos's face as he watched the young angel run towards him. _She reminds me a little of Collette. _He gave a small chuckle. _Except maybe not as air headed._ He then remembered the rest of his friends that he had left behind. In the short time he had spent with them, he had grown somewhat fond of them all. _Sheena, Collette, Raine, Genis, Regal, Presea, Zelos…Lloyd._

_Lloyd… I'm getting rid of the exspheres, just like I promised,_ he thought sadly as if talking to his on and only precious son. It seems like ages since he had said good-bye and left on Derris-Kharlan, but the reality was that it had only been a few days since the end of their journey together.

"Kratos-Sensei!" the young angel called out happily.

"Hello, Chesa," Kratos replied, showing his rare, small smile.

"Hey, after this, do think you could train a bit with me?" she asked.

Kratos was about to respond when the loud noise of the wide doors opening interrupted him. The vacuum of space eagerly sucked up the exspheres until all were gone. He looked on for a few moments and turned to leave. He stopped suddenly when his angelic hearing picked up a commotion farther to his left. An angel was searching the exspheres frantically with his eyes and went wide-eyed as he spotted a glint among the crystals.

Another angel whispered to him, "If Lord Kratos finds out, we shall be in serious trouble!"

"If he finds out what?" Kratos said coolly from right behind the pair.

After nearly dying from heart attack, the angels hesitated to speak.

"Well?"

"It would seem…that in the clean up of all the exspheres there was a mistake…"

Kratos gave him a look to continue his explanation.

"…the vault containing…containing Odin's Tear, was opened…and it was accidentally mixed in with the exspheres…"

Kratos's usually stoic attitude turned to that of shock for a moment, but quickly returned as he too looked to the mere specs as they flew off into the wide abyss.

"I want it found. Focus all the networks of Derris-Kharlan's system on locating and retrieving it."

The angels scrambled to their positions as Kratos calmly, but quickly, made his way to the main control room. There, the angels worked to find the one crystal among the hundreds scattered around them. Kratos stood silently watching them, when he noticed a very slight distortion in the space a few hundred meters to the starboard of the large comet of mana. With his angel sight, he zoomed in and saw a white spec inching ever closer to the rip.

He grit his teeth and thought _Ah! Of all the rotten-!_, as he said aloud, "Change Derris-Kharlan's trajectory to the wormhole on starboard side!"

The huge hulk of a comet was obviously not going to make it in time, and the Tear slipped into the hole right before their eyes.

_Blast!_ Kratos swore and ran towards the nearest warp pad. He shouted to the angels in the control room through a monitor, "Direct the target of this warp pad to the exact location of that hole!"

"But, Lord Kratos that is very dangerous, and-"

"NOW!"

"…Very well."

"Wait for me, Kratos-Sensei!" Chesa came running up to him, but was held back by other guard angels.

"Stay here, Chesa. I leave you in command in my leave," he said as he faded away and disappeared.

The next thing he knew, Kratos was flying through a tunnel of swirling light and matter. He tried to pull out his wings, but to no avail. Putting his arms up in front of him as a guard, he looked ahead and saw the light glint off a small object. He reached out to grab it, but as soon as he got his hands around it, there was a flash, and he found himself free falling in the atmosphere of a large green planet.

Looking for the object, he spotted a streak of fire hurtling towards the ground. Focusing his attention to the Tear, he only noticed the ground speeding towards him when it was a mere few thousand feet away. He successfully extended his wings, and pulled out of his dive with only a few a hundred feet to go. He floated in midair and watched as the fiery mass continued to plummet toward the land.

Down below, a hooded figure a short distance to the west noticed the falling meteorite, and could only stare as it collided with the earth, taking a small chunk of the surrounding forest in the following explosion. The man put up a Guardian to protect himself, and as soon as the blast subsided, darted off to the landing site.

Kratos gently touched upon the center of the crater and waited for the smoke to clear. He pushed some rocks with his foot, but the Tear was nowhere to be found.

"Hmmm…"he mumbled thoughtfully.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a presence come from behind him. The figure had drawn his sword and swung at Kratos with inhuman agility.

Kratos sidestepped and drew his own sword only to put it up to block a second sword from his attacker. _So, a twin swordsman. He's not bad. He looks to be at least nineteen…it couldn't be…_

Glancing at his attacker's swords he saw medium quality blades that seemed to have no distinguishing features common among powerful, hand-made swords.

Kratos turned his attention back to the fight and spun behind the man, prepared to strike; but the man smirked, and just as quickly twirled around and met Kratos's sword with one of his own.

Kratos coldly analyzed the man as they continued to stare each other down, swords crossed.

Then, suddenly, the young man began to laugh. Kratos was slightly confused and turned down the intensity of his glare.

"You, state your name," he demanded.

The man chuckled a bit more and spoke for the first time, "Give me your name, and I shall give you mine."

Kratos's eyes widened as he lowered his sword and attempted to speak, however, the words were caught in his throat.

The man pulled back the hood of his cloak to reveal spiked up, auburn hair, and chocolate, brown eyes. He stared at the man and gave a huge, goofy grin, "Still haven't lost your touch, have ya?"

"L-Lloyd?!" Kratos choked out, dropping his sword to the ground.

Lloyd ran up to him and gave him a hug, saying, "I missed you…Dad."

The word came hesitantly from Lloyd at first, but after he had said it aloud he gave a small nod and smiled, as if it felt right now. As if it was what he knew he could say now.

After a moment of utter surprise, the red-haired swordsman patted his son on the back and whispered, "Me too."


	2. The Secret Village of Mizuho

Yay! Peoples are reading! Thank you to all who reviewed, and to all who even read it. Reviews make me happy, and allow for major self-motivation!

CHAPTER 2 

THE SECRET VILLAGE OF MIZUHO

Kratos held Lloyd at arms length to analyze his son.

He smiled affectionately and said, "You've grown," then he frowned slightly, "But perhaps a little too much. You appear to be nineteen or so."

Lloyd looked at him, puzzled, and said, "Well, yeah. It **has** been about two years since you left."

Kratos's eyes widened in shock, but then narrowed and became deep in thought. Then it dawned on him.

"Of course…the wormhole."

Lloyd continued to stare at his father quizzically.

"To get here, I had to travel through a rip in space. This wormhole probably not only sent me across a distance, but time as well. The last time I saw you was only a couple days ago. You were still seventeen," Kratos explained.

"What were you doing going through a hole in space?" Lloyd asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We finished collecting all the exspheres on Derris-Kharlan, and had sent them out into space when we realized that an important artifact had accidentally slipped in with them. I saw it get pulled into the wormhole, and warped through to try and retrieve it."

"What artifact?" Lloyd asked and looked around the crater.

"It is called Odin's Tear. It is a crystalline object that was found on Derris-Kharlan from long before Mithos and the angels inhabited it."

"What does it do?"

"That's the problem. We don't know. Whenever someone tried to examine it, its intense aura drove them off. The mana level is off the charts; there are few who can even touch it."

"Well, where is it now?" Lloyd bent down and curiously lifted a rock and looked under, as if he would find it there.

"That I do not know either," Kratos sighed, "It is possible that after hitting the ground it could have fractured and spread to other regions. There are other possibilities, but I can't be sure."

"I know!" Lloyd stood up happily and smiled brightly, "Why don't we ask the professor? She's bound to know something about it; or at least a way to find out more."

"Yes…that's a good idea. Do you know where to find her?"

"She and Genis travel all over the place so it's hard to track them down sometimes," Lloyd said as he began walking up the slope to the forest, "but I'm sure Mizuho could track 'em down easy. I was just heading over there myself."

Kratos followed right behind him and asked with a sly smile, "What business did you have there? Visiting Sheena perhaps?"

"Well, yeah, it's always good to see old friends," Lloyd said ignorantly.

Kratos just smiled happily and thought, _the same Lloyd I remember, oblivious as ever._

"That's not the only reason though. I've been hunting down all the exspheres out in the open myself, but there are many more hidden or lost. Every time I get one the next is always harder to find," Lloyd said solemnly as the two walked side-by-side through Gaoracchia Forest, "I wanted to ask the Mizuho intelligence network if they could tell me about any exsphere locations they could uncover."

"I see," Kratos side glanced to his son and chuckled quietly to himself, "Well done Lloyd, you seem to be doing fine for yourself."

Lloyd beamed with pride at being praised by his father and walked with an even lighter step.

"By the way," Kratos looked around, "Where is Noishe?"

"Oh, I sent him to give a message to Regal for me. He should meet up with us at Mizuho."

"A message?"

Lloyd just winked and said, "You'll see soon enough."

They continued to walk along the path, occasionally finding a monster or two. However, what once might have given Lloyd trouble was easily swept away with a few deft strokes of his swords.

"All right. Another one down," Lloyd cheered as he defeated an especially tough Iris.

Kratos smiled and looked on proudly at his son and said, "Your sword skills have improved even more. Soon you will probably surpass me."

Lloyd rubbed the back of his head bashfully and muttered, "Nah, you've got way more experience than me. I had to train really hard to get this far. I -"

Both Lloyd and Kratos became alert as they sensed a presence nearby. It wasn't a monster, but it didn't seem benevolent either.

"Lloyd…" Kratos began to say.

Suddenly a small streak came rushing out of the brush, tackling Lloyd to the ground.

"Lloyd!" Kratos called out and reached for his sword.

He stopped mid draw, however, when he saw the mysterious attacker. Lloyd was on the ground wrestling with a small boy, probably only eleven years old. The boy was trying to distance himself from Lloyd in order to launch another attack, but Lloyd got a hold of him and held him in a tight headlock.

Sitting up cross-legged, Lloyd firmly held the boy still and, obviously annoyed, asked him, "What the heck was that about?!"

Kratos walked over to the two and noticed what the child was wearing. He was garbed in the traditional ninja outfit, complete with a shuriken pouch strapped to his leg, and shinobi headband.

Kratos opened his mouth to comment on this when the child rudely shouted, "You are not welcome here! Turn back now and forget about this place! Do so and your life shall be spared."

"Uhuh," Lloyd snorted disbelievingly, "Spared by whom? **You**?"

"This wouldn't be an act to keep the location of Mizuho a secret, now would it?" Kratos asked amusedly at the child's threats.

The boy paled, but snapped back as rudely as before, "What are you talking about old man?! That has nothing to do with…"

His words died out as his eyes widened and he looked, terrified, to the direction he had came.

"Oh, crud. She's coming…" he whispered.

"What? Who's-" Lloyd began but snapped his head to the same direction as he sensed an aura coming rapidly closer. A very **angry** aura.

A chill ran down everyone's spine as a blood curdling yell called out towards them.

"SHINTA!!" a raven haired young woman came stomping through the brush, obviously calling to the boy.

Lloyd had long since released the boy and backed away next to Kratos to avoid the rampage.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO RUN OFF BY YOURSELF?!!!" the woman grabbed the collar of the boy raising him up to her eye level. She then continued to give him an earful of scolding, "Not only THAT," she pointed to the father-son pair without looking, "but you pretty much give away the location of Mizuho to-"

She cut off as she saw Lloyd and gave a small gasp.

"Uh, hi Sheena," Lloyd said timidly, not sure if it was the right time to greet her, "Sorry to interrupt…"

Sheena stared at him for a moment, then turned to the boy, a new look of anger coming over her.

"Shinta! Did you attack Lloyd?!" she turned back to Lloyd and noticed Kratos for the first time, "and Kratos?! What are you doing here?!"

"Lloyd? I didn't know he was **the **Lloyd," Shinta said looking away stubbornly, feigning ignorance; although he couldn't hide the thick sarcasm in in his voice.

"Oh really? As if the bright red suit wasn't a dead give away," Sheena snapped as she dropped Shinta back to the ground, but keeping a tight grip on his shoulder.

"Hey! It's not that weird is it?" Lloyd retorted indignantly, while Kratos tried to suppress a chuckle.

Although Lloyd's outfit had changed a bit (the shirt was a tighter fit and the sleeves were cut shorter. Instead of thick gloves he wore bright red fingerless gloves, and the trousers were replaced with a type of cargo pants, still tucked into his boots) it was still the outrageous red they had all grown accustomed to.

"You're not helping," Lloyd turned to Kratos and scowled.

Kratos allowed himself a small laugh as he ran his hand through Lloyd's hair and ruffled it affectionately; just as he had done when Lloyd was young.

He then said playfully to Shinta, "There was also the fact that I called his name at least twice. No doubt you've been following us for some time, as well; meaning you should have realized who he was."

"Really? Why didn't you say something?" Lloyd curiously asked Kratos.

"I wasn't too sure myself. He was hard to pinpoint. Besides, he didn't seem to mean any harm at first," Kratos shrugged.

Sheena glared at Shinta and grumbled, "Yeah, if there's anything he's good at it's keeping out of reach."

"Hmph," Shinta just stood there and pouted.

"Now," Sheena pushed the boy forward, "Apologize to them!"

"I have no reason to apologize. I was just doing my job."

"Whatever, it doesn't bother me too much," Lloyd sighed and shrugged.

Shinta responded in kind by sticking his tongue out, complete with rude hand gestures.

"Why you little…" Lloyd struggled to suppress his anger.

"Shinta!" Sheena gave him a good slap upside the head.

"Lloyd," Kratos sighed and put a restraining hand on Lloyd's arm.

Lloyd huffed and grumbled.

"Well, let us move on from this little incident shall we?" Kratos attempted to change the subject.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" Sheena said, blushing and slightly flustered, "Come, the village of Mizuho welcomes you."

The small group followed her into the village entrance, immediately greeted by its inhabitants as they walked through the streets.

"Welcome back, Chief," a young man passed by and gave a quick, small bow of his head to Sheena.

"Hey," Sheena waved back.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. You're the head of the village now," Lloyd smiled at Sheena, "How is everything going?"

"Very well, actually. We've expanded the village a bit," Sheen a pointed out the extra section in the east that looked recently made, "and this generation of shinobi are very talented."

Shinta allowed himself a very slight smirk as he treaded behind Sheena that was only seen by Kratos.

They reached the Chief's hut, which also had new extensions recently made to it. Sheena led them to the meeting room, making sure they were comfortable.

"Let me just change out of these training clothes. I'll be right back. Make yourselves at home," she smiled and closed the screen behind her.

The screen opened again and Shinta stuck his head through, "And don't you dare peek at Onee-san!"

As the father and son stared dumfounded at the boy, he was dragged out by a very embarrassed Sheena, who pulled him by the ear and slammed the door shut. Faint sounds of an enraged Sheena and a Shinta in a lot of pain could be heard receding down the hall.

"…."

"…."

"Well…that was awkward," Lloyd broke the silence.

"Indeed."

So yeah… that's it for this chapter…..REVIEW!!! Nah, I'm just kidding, you don't have to……cough,cough anyway, I'm gonna try to update as much as possible, but don't be too expectant for them to come so fast.

(>'') ( ' ' ) ('' )


	3. Symphonia

**Gomenasai, but I don't really know how to work this account very well, so please cut me some slack for the technical stuff - (in reality computers hate my guts; they usually end up malfunctioning around me). Kyungsamnida and Domo arigatou for all those who have reviewed and read my story thus far!**

**Keeper of Balance- Thank you for the whole spell check, I appreciate your meticulous care for grammar. And yes, Odin's Tear is all my own;p (I love Norse myth). NARUTO ALL THE WAY!!!!-**

**Dawnstarshine/ Fehize/ guardian-angel910/ Midnight Promise- OYAKO FLUFF!! I LOVES IT!!! I'm gonna try to make this story a balance of Oyako, and other elements, but don't worry, there's more to come.**

**Kikuren- nah, he's not her brother, he just really admires her and pretty much grew up with her. A lot of the kids are probably gonna call her **

**Onee-san.**

**Oh, yeah just to tell you, this story will be like if you had taken the path where you keep Kratos and get the locket, except I'm not gonna kill off Zelos. It's more fun that way.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, though if I had my way, this would be the sequel. (this disclaimer goes for the other chapters as well….I uh, hehehe…I forgot. Oopsies)**

CHAPTER 3

SYMPHONIA

"I wouldn't advise that, Lloyd."

Kratos and Lloyd were still waiting patiently in the meeting room for Sheena to return. Well, one of them anyway. Kratos sat cross-legged on a floor cushion warily watching his curious son.

"Ah, don't worry, I'm sure it's perfectly fine. It's just tea."

Lloyd had gotten bored of sitting still after the first few minutes, and had begun to wander around the room. A clay tea set in a corner of the room had caught his attention. It rested on a small varnished table and consisted of a single small tea pot, three cups, and an assortment of different vials and bowls of multicolored powders and sweet smelling liquids. The pot was steaming with freshly brewed tea.

"I wonder if these are flavorings for tea," Lloyd pointed to the vials of fragrant liquids and shuffled through the many jars.

"Or poisons for getting rid of nosey teenagers," Kratos sighed.

Lloyd gulped and turned nervously to his father, "They wouldn't just put them out here in the open…would they?"

"Who knows? I'm no ninja," he smirked.

"Ah, but I'm sure you could be. Such talent," a raspy voice spoke up suddenly.

Kratos and Lloyd nearly jumped out of their skins and turned to the new voice, weapons raised.

A wizened old woman sat on one of the cushions, calmly sipping tea. She wore a simple brown kimono and her wispy white hair was pulled into a tight bun. Her eyes were hidden behind closed, withered eye-lids.

"My, some new faces. Would you be Lloyd?" the woman nodded to the red-clad teen. She sounded as old as she looked. Which was **quite** old.

"Who are you? And how did you get in here without us noticing?" Kratos slowly sheathed his sword, eyeing the woman.

"Hmm? I simply walked in through the door and picked up a cup of tea," she replied as if talking to silly little child.

The two turned to the tea set and saw that a cup was missing from the tray. They turned back to the woman who merely continued to drink her tea.

"But, how-" Lloyd started, flabbergasted.

"Ninjas," Kratos muttered a slight tone of exasperation in his voice.

"Would you like some tea, young man? I assure you, that batch isn't poisoned," she addressed Lloyd.

_**That**__ batch?_ Lloyd thought to himself, feeling a pit in the bottom of his stomach, _What about the other batches?_

"It's a very healthy mix. Good for the body…" she said taking another drink as if to prove her point.

Lloyd eyed the tea uncertainly for a second, and then hesitantly picked up a cup, filling it with the steaming brown-green liquid.

_Hmmm…they have no reason to poison us. I suppose it would be okay_, Kratos thought to himself. All the same, he poised himself to rush to his son's aid if harm came to him. Of course, afterwards he would be in an awfully bad and merciless mood. Even to an elderly woman.

Lloyd decided to just gulp it down and get it over with. I f he made the wrong choice…well, he lived a good life.

"…I must warn you though. It's not very pleasing to the tongue," the woman finished her statement. Too late for Lloyd.

"Hrf," Lloyd instantly ran to the window, jumped out and spewed out the foul liquid into a nearby bush.

Wretching sounds could be heard out the window as Kratos walked over to it. Kratos looked out and sighed as he watched Lloyd try to wash out the taste with berries from the bush.

"You should know that healthy things always taste bad," Kratos said to him, all the while keeping his straight face.

"Yah, bu dey don dase li roden wamp wa'er," Lloyd shot indignantly, and then put his hands up to his mouth in shock.

Kratos stared in surprise at his son's incoherent babbling.

"Ah, yes. And just so you know, that bush has berries used for very potent anesthetics."

Lloyd thrust his head through the window and looked at her incredulously, "Nahw u del mi?!"

"Don't worry. It should wear off. Eventually. A couple hours. Maybe."

"Uugh!" Lloyd flung his arms over the window sill and leaned out into the hut, his head hung down.

Lloyd heard a strangled sound and looked up to his father. Kratos was looking away with a hand clamped tight over his mouth, and shaking slightly.

"Was rung?" Lloyd tried to get Kratos to face him, but he kept turning away.

"Ey! Ook a mi!" he demanded.

Kratos turned slightly and Lloyd was shocked to see his father's eyes tearing and his hand hiding a constrained smile. Finally, he couldn't take it any more.

Kratos doubled over in laughter, losing his normally icy exterior. He continued to laugh, gripping his abdomen from the lack of breath. Lloyd could only stare at him, not believing what he was seeing.

Kratos finally calmed down, and regained his composure. Well…almost. He held his head in his hand and continued with light chuckling.

"Wa id rweally tha funy?" Lloyd asked curiously.

Kratos waited a few moments before talking, to make sure he was done, "Thank you, Lloyd. I…I haven't laughed like that in so very long," he ruffled through Lloyd's hair affectionately. It seemed it was becoming a new habit. Or maybe just an old one that had resurfaced. "Perhaps my heart feels lighter."

Lloyd was aghast for a moment, surprised his father would open up to him like that. But he soon gave Kratos a knowing smile.

"Besides, this isn't the first time something like this has happened," Kratos said.

"Mm?" Lloyd cocked his head questioningly.

"When you were a little over two years old, you had eaten berries from a similar bush before I could stop you. You were trying to tell me something, but being hardly able to talk in the first place, I had no idea what you were saying. Then your mother came and saw the red juice and heard your babbling, thinking you had bit your tongue. She panicked and ran back and forth for a while. I tried to explain, but she picked you up and ran for the nearest doctor. Then Noishe went running after you, bashing into trees along the way. Turns out those berries were like catnip to him."

Kratos paused for a moment and smiled fondly before continuing, "I ran after all of you. It was quite a sight: a woman running frantically through town, holding a baby yelling out complete nonsense, followed by a strange drunken dog-creature, and a full grown man chasing after them. We had to move on to a new town after that."

It was Lloyd's turn to burst into laughter. He had to lean on the outside of the hut for support. Then the sound of the screen door opening ceased his fit.

"Lloyd? What are you doing out there?"

Lloyd jumped back inside the hut and was greeted by Sheena, donning a lavender and violet kimono with a black silk sash.

"I'm sorry I took so long, but **someone** hid my kimono."

Kratos and Lloyd didn't have to wonder who.

"Wow, u ook nice theena!" Lloyd smiled.

Sheena blushed slightly and muttered, "Well, of course. The village head is representative of all the people, therefore is expected to look his or her best when dealing with important matters and such."

Then she realized how Lloyd was speaking, and looked up at him, slightly surprised, "Did you eat those red berries out there, Lloyd?" She walked over to the tea set and saw the brewed tea.

Sheena let out a long breath then called tiredly, "Obaa-chan!"

"Yes, She-chan? What can I do for you?" the old woman from before walked up and stood behind her.

Lloyd and Kratos jumped slightly, forgetting that the elderly woman was even there.

"Did you give Lloyd the Chikari-cha?"

"I offered it to him, yes."

"Without warning him?"

"Oh, no I warned him. About the tea and the berries."

"Knowing you it was probably after you had your fun."

"What can I say?" the so called 'Obaa-chan' smirked, her eyes never opening.

_Maybe she's blind?_ Lloyd pondered to himself.

"I presume this happens often, judging by the way you could understand him so easily," Kratos said, his cold exterior back up, all back to business.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sheena replied as she opened Lloyd's mouth to examine it, "Stupid kids always eat them either to just be silly, or defiant." She finished looking and turned back to the tea set, "No cuts or bruises. Sometimes people injure themselves without realizing it, because they can't feel anything."

"So is there are way to nullify the effects, or do we have to wait it out?" Kratos asked, arms crossed in front of him.

"Well there is one way to get rid of the effects instantaneously…"

"Wha is id?"

Sheena turned around and held out another cup of the putrid brown tea, and said, "Bottoms up."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggghh…."

"Well, now that that's settled, let us move on to the matter at hand."

Sheena, Lloyd, Kratos, and the old woman known only as Obaa-chan sat in a circle around snack of rice cakes and tea (which Lloyd didn't dare touch) with Sheena placed at the head, where her grandfather sat before her.

It had taken a few minutes for Lloyd to psyche up for the tea. In that time, Kratos had explained the situation to Sheena. Then Lloyd realized that if his mouth was numb, he wouldn't taste anything, so he took a big swig. He was wrong.

Lloyd was still grieving for his poor tongue when Sheena spoke again, "Seeing as Mizuho has no information on this Odin's Tear- well, aside from the fact that it's a legendary artifact of ancient lore- we'll need to track down Raine. That won't be a problem; we have at least one shinobi in each region. It shouldn't take too long. You can wait here until we get word."

Kratos nodded silently.

"As for the exspheres, we've even found some ourselves. In fact some of our people are working with researchers from the United Scholars Society. They are trying to combine our trackers with some old exsphere research to create an exsphere detector of sorts."

"United Scholars Society?" Kratos asked.

Both Sheena and Lloyd looked at him for a moment, then they started in realization.

"Oh, yes that's right. I'm sorry, you wouldn't know," Sheena said apologetically, "A lot has happened in these past few years. When the two worlds were reunited, it was a little chaotic at first. The planet's size increased two-fold, in order to contain the two. So now the landscape is a fusion of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant; or I guess it went back to the way it originally was."

Kratos merely nodded again.

"So," Sheena continued, "Obviously there needed to be a kind of authority figure. Although the King of Tethe'alla seemed a good choice, the people of Sylvarant had no reason to obey him. So we all came to an agreement: The

Symphony. It's a grand council that has a representative from each city. The king keeps his rule over Meltokio, however, each town from both worlds elects a leader, who all meet at Meltokio and discuss matters and what measures to take. They all have equal power in the council."

"Yes, that makes sense. A good move," Kratos nodded approvingly.

"The United Scholars Society is an organization made up of the top scientists and scholars from Sybak, Meltokio, Palmacosta, and other educational facilities," Lloyd picked up where Sheena left off. He grinned widely and said proudly, "Genis and the Professor are members."

"Not surprising," Kratos thought back to the small genius.

"The whole exsphere experience was troubling to many, so it was decided that much of the U.S.S resources be put into the finding and destroying of them," continued Sheena, "Come, we'll go to the communications station to get more information on their progress."

She stood up and began walking out of the hut. Lloyd and Kratos followed shortly. Lloyd turned to look for the old woman, but she was gone. _Weird_.

"So," Kratos murmured as they walked through the village, "The Symphony…a blend of different people, ideas, races…like the harmony of many different instruments-all with different voices, yet playing to the same tune. A good name."

Lloyd smiled and looked up to the clear blue sky. The clouds swirled peacefully in the infinite space.

"Yeah," Lloyd said, "just like our brand new world, where there will finally be the unity of every single voice of every single living thing. A new world called Symphonia."

**Yeah, I wanted those last three paragraphs to be kinda dramatic and inspirational (I'm not sure if I got that tho')**

**Since it is summer break, I promise to update as much as possible, but probably not ever day like this. This was more like a "Grand Opening Three Chapter Special". But I'll see ya soon!**


	4. Realize

**Gah! I'm so sorry to those who wanted to leave anonymous reviews! I didn't know I had to enable it through my account! Sumimasen to all those who tried, failed, and thought I was a complete jerk!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Tales of Symphonia except my precious game, some posters, and the ideas in my head and in my story.**

CHAPTER 4

REALIZE

"Welcome, Chief. What can I do for you?" A tall shinobi stood in the middle of the large room which Sheena and company had just entered.

"Hello, Orochi. Have you gotten any word from the researchers working on the exsphere project?" Sheena walked up to him, Lloyd and Kratos on her side.

"Hey how're you doin', Orochi?" Lloyd greeted.

"Hello, there Lloyd. And Kratos? I thought-"

"I came back on business," Kratos said sternly, but not unkindly.

"Right," Orochi merely shrugged it off and turned to the large monitor on the far side of the room. All along the sides of the room were smaller monitors and other machines used for communicating with other cities, storing information, and many other things of which Lloyd had no clue. What else was new?

"As a matter of fact, yes, we just received a coded message from Palmacosta. I was about to send for you," he said pointing to the screen. Workers were establishing a link to the seaside city.

"What did it say?" Sheena said, switching into her role of authority figure.

"Only that the U.S.S wished for us to contact them via our secure line. Apparently they don't want any eavesdroppers.

"Hmm. That's odd…" Sheena stood quietly in thought for a moment, then looked to the workers and commanded, "Alright. Open a line to the U.S.S. Palmacosta branch."

They nodded silently and in a short time the screen opened to a scene showing a similar room to the one they were currently standing in, but out a small window in the background one could see the endless blue that was the ocean.

Then suddenly there was a crashing sound coming from somewhere off-screen, followed by loud and angry yelling.

"**PARANOID**?!?! YOU ARE MERELY NOT BEING CAUTIOUS ENOUGH!!" the voice was female and oddly familiar, and was accompanied shortly by loud smacking sounds. Very **painful** smacking sounds.

"Uhh…" Sheena was at a loss for words as she stared helplessly at the screen.

"Huh? Hey, I think someone's calling us," it was a new voice, and soft footsteps were heard coming closer to the communications apparatus on the other side of the link.

A short, young boy appeared in front of the monitor, big blue eyes framed by silver hair looked through.

"Hey! Genis!" Lloyd called out happily and ran up to the screen.

"Lloyd, hi!" Genis smiled back and gave a big wave.

"Lloyd is there?! Is that the secret line from Mizuho?" the female voice cried out, and instantly there was Raine by her brother's side.

"Ah, so that **was** you, Raine. I had a feeling," Sheena sighed and put a hand to her forehead.

"Excellent! That was fast," Raine was obviously very excited about something. She turned to whoever she was previously beating the life out of off to the side, "You! Stand guard by the door! Make sure all the security locks are in place! I don't want even a fly to get in here!"

Low and disgruntled grumblings were heard in the background but they soon disappeared after the sound of a door sliding open and shut.

"They're still alive over there?" Lloyd muttered disbelievingly.

"Did you say something **Lloyd**?" Raine smiled innocently.

"Nu-nothing, Professor," Lloyd waved his hands and laughed nervously.

Raine scrambled off to the left and proceeded to tap furiously on a key pad extending from the wall. An electronic safe popped open and Raine reached her hand in, pulling out a small object. She walked back to the console and held out the object for everyone to see.

It was about the size of her palm. The device was circular and flat in shape, like a pocket watch. On the side facing upwards, a mirror-like screen that seemed like still water shone in the light. The rest of the surface area was covered in a shiny, obsidian metal cover. Runes surrounded the screen in an unbroken circle.

Raine tapped the screen softly, and a small pillar of gentle light shone up from it to eye-level. Multiple holographic screens appeared in the light. She touched different sections on one of the screens, selecting a mode. The screens were replaced by a three dimensional map, supposedly that of Symphonia.

"This is the exsphere detecting device, or as we call it, the Exe-terminal," Raine enthusiastically explained the workings of the wondrous new device, while almost everyone merely tuned out the hardcore magi technology information for fear it would overload their minds.

"Like a child with a brand new toy," Kratos muttered to himself.

"Aaaaaaaah! Make it stop!" Lloyd groaned and put his hands over his ears.

"Er, Raine? Do you think you could give us the shortened version?" Sheena asked, still a little overwhelmed by the sudden intake of unnecessary knowledge.

"Oh, very well" Raine pouted, "I'll cut the lesson short under the circumstances."

_Circumstances?_ Kratos thought sharply to himself.

Raine tapped the mirror screen once again, and the holograms deactivated.

"The two main elements of the Exe-terminal is the tracking characters engraved on the back, courtesy if Mizuho," Raine turned it over to show symbols similar to the ones on Sheena's cards, "And the internal exesphere battery- which we obtained thanks to Lloyd."

Kratos glanced sideways to the young swordsman who rested a hand on the hilt of one of his swords- a grim expression on his face.

"While I was exploring the mines I found a weird exesphere hidden among the rubble, and showed it to the U.S.S. It turns out it wasn't any old exsphere. The scientists believe it was made from…from a half-elf, instead of a human."

Kratos wondered at his son's tone in his voice for a moment, then hesitantly turned back to Raine as she began explaining again.

"Yes," her face also solemn, "You see, this device is a fusion of elven magic and human magitechnology. Therefore, this exspheres is able to be used as both a power source and a base for finding similar frequencies, or in other words, other exspheres."

"Let me guess," Kratos said softly to Lloyd, "You feel uncomfortable using exespheres in such a way. Almost like a self sacrifice- especially since it is a physical remnant of half-elf suffering."

Lloyd looked down and nodded very slightly. Sheena came up beside him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Wait a second!" Raine and Genis exclaimed, "Kratos? What are you doing here?!"

"I've been getting a lot of that today," Kratos smiled slightly to himself.

"Yeah! Dad came back from Derris-Kharlan!" Lloyd said happily.

Although very surprised at his son's enthusiasm at his return (Not that he didn't like it. Inside Kratos was rejoicing that his son was happy to see him), Kratos could still see the small twinge of sadness in Lloyd's eyes.

"Oh!" Lloyd addressed Raine, "Which reminds me, Professor? Do you know anything about Odin's Tear?"

A look of shock followed by a slightly confused expression came across her face.

"Lloyd, how do you know about Odin's Tear? That is a highly classified file, and is even under tight lock and key in Derris-Kharlan."

Lloyd turned to Kratos who stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Unfortunately-"

"Unless…" Raine's face turned to disturbed realization, "You…it didn't…was it stolen and brought here?"

"No. But the real situation isn't much better. I can't fathom how, but the Tear was mixed in with the exespheres of Welgaia. When we ejected them into space it traveled through a wormhole and ended up here. I followed, however, when I arrived at the crash site, it was no where to be found."

"I see…" Raine stared at the Exe-terminal, deep in thought, "What are your ideas on the matter?"

"My hypothesis was that it fractured from the intense heat created by the friction of cutting through the atmosphere as it fell; there was also the change in pressure from when it was floating in space. Then, the force of the impact spread the shards throughout the area. Or otherwise, the crystal could have dissipated entirely."

"Then there would be no real problem right? I mean, no one could get their hands on it, then," Lloyd smirked and looked quite pleased with himself.

"Wrong," Genis' grim voice was small as he slowly shook his head, "If that happened there could be a BIG problem."

Kratos nodded, "Yes. If it split, the only ordeal would be to find all the pieces. The high levels of mana introduced could cause mutations in the ecological environment, but nothing major. If it dissipated however…"

"Mana anti-diffusion," Raine finished for him.

"What? What does that mean?" Lloyd looked from Kratos to Raine waiting for an explanation.

"Think about it Lloyd," Raine closed her eyes and switched into lecture mode, "If there is one thing we know about Odin's Tear, it is that it is a source of **immense** energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, so, what happens to all that mana?"

"Wouldn't it just like, flow out or something?" Lloyd said, still confused.

"That's part of the problem. The energy would normally try to achieve equilibrium by spreading out evenly throughout an area by diffusion. However, the Tear isn't a very big object- the size of a normal exesphere as a matter of fact. It was created so that vast amounts of energy would condense into a small point."

"So, what's the big deal? It would just condense and turn into its crystallized form again, right?" Lloyd still didn't see any evident threat.

"We're talking about mana from Derris-Kharlan, Lloyd," Kratos said quietly, "No doubt Symphonia hasn't fully recovered from its mana deficiency. If there was only enough mana for one world at a time, then the two together can only get so far with that limited supply. The Yggradsill Tree is still too young to provide sufficient amounts for the whole planet. The Gaoracchia Forest would be trying to obtain any mana it can find, especially mana of such high caliber. This will amplify the diffusion as the planet tries to absorb the energy."

It was Genis' turn to talk, "And like two different forces of a magnet, the powers would oppose each other and cause a force that would pulverize the matter caught up in it."

Lloyd's eyes widened and this time he only stood speechless. Genis glanced at his sister and said hesitantly, "There is also the slight possibility that the pull of the Tear would be greater than the absorption rate. Then it would actually take extra energy from the planet. By reforming with more mana than was intended for the Tear to be able to hold, an almost super nova effect could take place. The energy would expand at high velocities because of its instability, then try to compress again at the same speed, maybe faster."

Lloyd was wide-eyed with mouth gaping. Genis nodded solemnly as he believed he had made his point clear.

"That's…wow…" he stuttered.

"Exactly," Genis nodded again.

"I couldn't comprehend any of the words that were more than four letters long that just spewed from your mouth," Lloyd said aghast.

There was a unified groan from everyone in the room: Raine looked as if she was ready to pound the stupid out of him, Genis was banging his head in frustration, and Kratos and Sheena held their heads in their hands.

"Seriously, did you really expect me to understand that?" Lloyd huffed.

"Ugh," Genis faced him, "In other words: BIG boom. Then **huge** hole that sucks stuff up."

"Say good-bye to about a quarter of the planet," added Raine.

"I really don't understand why you guys make such an effort to give these big, complicated explanations, when it usually comes down to using less than ten words in the end anyway," Lloyd shrugged.

"That's because **most** people have an IQ higher than that of an apple gel," Raine sighed and covered her face with her hand to hide her affectionate smile for her pupil.

"Hey, careful, the apple gel might take offense," Genis laughed.

"Yeah, well, you give apples to, uh, teachers! And teachers are smart…er," Lloyd was trying to save a sinking boat.

The Sage siblings stared wordlessly at him, and Kratos made a mental note to teach his son better comebacks.

"Wow, Lloyd," Genis groaned, "That was the saddest, yet most convincing evidence of your **lack** of intelligence, I have ever seen. And I knew you when you were **younger**, and supposedly less developed."

"You guys suck!" Lloyd turned around in a pout, but everyone knew he was joking, and probably smiling the widest of everyone.

"Right, now that we are done teasing Lloyd we must get back to the matter at hand," Kratos shot a quick smile to his son before turning serious again.

"Yes," Raine looked thoughtful again, "There actually is a sort of keeper of the information concerning the Tear and other such ancient secrets."

"Where can we contact that person?" Kratos asked, though in his 4,000 years of life he had never heard of such an archive or the guardian who protected it.

Raine smirked, "You are presently looking at her."

**Yup yup, another chapter. One thing one must know about me- there is always a method to my madness. Even small, funny things like the tea incident have meaning later on, and even seemingly minor characters, like the old lady, Chesa and Shinta have important roles. I reveal stuff when the time is right, mwuhahaha. **

**So, yeah, I'll try making the chapters a bit longer, but my method is write short chapters, update more often. Tell me if they seem to fast paced or diluted, 'kay?;p**

**Oh, and there will be more oyako in the next few chapters too. And some action!**


	5. As Long as I Have You

**Alright, new chapter. And some Oyako fluff. Sorry, it's kinda short but that's 'cuz the next one will be pretty long. Oh, and sorry if that last chapter didn't make sense or was boring, but I had to kind of set everything up. There are going to be a few chapters like that I suppose, but it please bear with me - .**

**Any way, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I own nuthin'.**

CHAPTER 5

AS LONG AS I HAVE YOU

"Alright! Now we can travel together!" Lloyd practically jumped for joy when he heard he and his father had the same destination.

The pair was now shopping around Mizuho for supplies for their journey. Neither had much left because Lloyd used his in the trip to Mizuho, and Kratos had just dropped out from the sky.

Kratos was still trying to take everything in and think. Things had happened very quickly. After Raine had made her announcement and waited a few moments to bask in the glory of such a supposedly important job, she demanded Kratos come to Palmacosta. While he traveled there, Raine would look up more information about the Tear and share it with him when he arrived. Then Genis was jumping up and down in happiness, because Lloyd would come along to get the Exe-terminal. The Sage siblings started conversing to themselves, and with a quick farewell, had closed the line. Then Sheena began ordering about the workers, and Lloyd was dragging Kratos outside. All this had happened in the span of less than a minute.

_Hmm…maybe I __**am**__ getting old. Things weren't so fast-paced when I was younger_, Kratos thought in dismay. He chuckled as he realized he really **was** talking like an old man.

"Hey, dad? What do think- should we get some Mizuho Potion?" Lloyd brought Kratos out of his thoughts and held a bottle of red liquid before him.

Kratos stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, I think we'll be fine."

"'Kay!" he put down the bottle and walked merrily to the next store.

Kratos stood there, looking after his son, still slightly unused to anyone calling him 'dad'.

"Dad! Come one! Don't tell me you're getting tired and old," Lloyd called.

"I may be old, but I can still keep up with you," Kratos smirked and sped right past his son.

"Whoa, hey, wait up!" Lloyd laughed.

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"Aaaah, now that was some good food," Lloyd plopped down onto the grassy hill, and lay there, arms folded behind his head, and stared up at the ethereal night sky.

"Yes, Mizuho dishes are very unique and flavorful," Kratos sat next to Lloyd and also looked up to the stars.

Kratos smiled as he watched the luminescent sparks light up the black, velvety roof of sky. Now **these** were the stars that had comforted him all his life. Even as a child, Kratos had always star gazed- from when he was a young boy with his father, to now when he sat with his own son.

"Dad? We used to look at the stars when I was young, right?" Lloyd said quietly, still facing upwards.

"….yes, after dinner we would go out like this, and usually stayed until you fell asleep," Kratos closed his eyes and thought back to many memories, "Of course we would only stay out for a little bit in the winter. Your mother would have killed me if I let you get sick; of course I wouldn't have been too pleased with myself either if that happened."

There was a long silence. Then Lloyd spoke up, very softly, "Thank you for that…"

"…?" Kratos cocked his head to the side questioningly.

"Well…sometimes…it got kinda lonely. I lived outside the village, and, don't get me wrong, Dirk's a great dad, but….well, he just wasn't the same as having real parents…"

Kratos looked up again casually, but he was hiding the deep wells of sadness in his eyes. Ever since he had discovered Lloyd was alive, he had regretted leaving him alone with every fiber of his being. Not a day went by when he was in Cruxis that he didn't miss his family.

Kratos opened his mouth to attempt an apology, but Lloyd waved a hand as if he knew what his dad was about to say, "But it wasn't so bad, I guess. I had Genis and Collette and the Professor, and Noishe. And whenever it got tough, I could look up at the stars. For some reason they always helped…I think it was because they reminded me of you; without me ever really knowing that, though. So, I suppose that you were really supporting me all my life, in a way."

"…" Kratos couldn't manage to say anything; no wise statement, or words of comfort. Finally, he whispered something at last, "…thank you…Lloyd."

It was Lloyd's turn to be puzzled. He propped himself up on his elbows and watched his father continue to look upwards, "…Dad…?"

"Before…I-I never thought…after I believed you to be dead I didn't want to remember. I was so empty and it hurt to think about the two of you. I never expected to be called 'dad' again, nor did I want anything to do with it anymore."

Lloyd sat up now and stared at his father, concerned at his strained voice. He also was secretly rethinking if Kratos actually wanted him to call him that..

"That is…until now," Kratos finally faced Lloyd and for the first time since Lloyd had met him he gave a wide, genuine smile, "It…It made me so happy when you called me 'dad' both in the Tower of Salvation and when I came back from Derris-Kharlan, and all day even. You've given me joy that I thought I could never feel again by treating me as your father. I hope to become a better one than I have been."

Lloyd moved over and leaned his back against Kratos' arm, "And I hope that you smile like that much more often."

Kratos smiled even wider and ran his hand through Lloyd's hair as the teen drifted off to sleep.

"As long as I have you, I will."

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"Thank you for the hospitality," Kratos gave a small bow to Obaa-chan and thanked the other villagers as well.

"Our pleasure, after all we are all friends are we not?" she smiled wryly and bowed in return.

Lloyd looked around and said to her, "Where's Sheena? Isn't she coming to see us off?"

"No she won't be- she said she has other matters to attend to. She's preparing for them right now as a matter of fact."

"Right, I understand. She must be pretty busy now. Please tell her I'll catch her later," Lloyd smiled and began to walk off with his father.

The entryway was suddenly barred off by guards, and the pair was surrounded.

"What?!" Lloyd cried out.

"Hey, who said anything about good-bye?!" the two turned to the direction of the voice and saw Sheena in her traveling outfit with a pack on a shoulder, "You guys almost left me behind!"

"Didn't you have manners to attend to?" Kratos said calmly, but he knew how this was going to end up.

"Yeah- making sure you guys don't get into any trouble," she waved her finger and winked, "Didn't Obaa-chan tell you I was getting ready?"

"Ah, yes…young people these days are in such a hurry," Obaa-chan sighed.

_You just love leaving out the details, don't you?_ The father son pair thought to themselves.

"What about Mizuho?" Lloyd asked.

"Hey, don't you dare underestimate my village," Sheena smirked, "They can take care of themselves if need be. Besides, if this Tear **has** dissipated then Mizuho will get caught up in the blast, and it is **certainly** my responsibility to keep it safe."

"According to Raine, dramatic effects won't occur for another few weeks, so that gives you guys plenty of time to get to Palma Costa and figure something out," Orochi reassured the group, "Keep our Chief safe, will you?"

Lloyd shrugged and Kratos said, "It can't be helped. I suppose we could use the assistance."

"Don't worry, the three of us can handle things," Lloyd smiled and gave them the thumbs up.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Sheena exclaimed, "Please bring them here Orochi."

Orochi quickly bowed and ran off through the crowd. He soon returned with a wing pack in his hand. Setting it on the ground, he activated the device and four Rheiards materialized before them.

"We've modified the wing packs to store Rheiards," Orochi explained, "This should make travel much easier."

Lloyd looked ecstatic to be flying again, but then he suddenly cried out and slapped his forehead with his hand.

"What is it?" Kratos asked, alarmed.

"Noishe! I completely forgot about him! I had expected to stay in Mizuho a bit longer, so I thought there would be plenty of time for him to get to Regal at the Ozette restoration site and back again."

Kratos was about to say something along the lines of 'He can take care of himself', but Orochi cut in, "Ah! Forgive me, I had forgotten as well. A message from Regal came in this morning from Altamira."

"Altamira? Wasn't he in Ozette?"

"Yes, he was, but he had finished his work there for the time being. Not before meeting Noishe, though. Noishe had successfully delivered his message, but right after, he got into the food storage and accidentally ate some spoiled food. He became ill-" Orochi saw Kratos' and Lloyd's alarmed looks, "Ah! But not fatally, just a stomach ache." The pair relaxed. "Anyway, Regal took Noishe to Altamira with him for rest and treatment. He said that he'll take care of Noishe until he sees you again at your 'rendezvous point'."

The father son pair sighed in exasperation and muttered something about obedience school.

Then Kratos turned to his son, "What's this about a rendezvous?"

"Like I said, you'll see soon enough," Lloyd said cryptically.

Kratos wanted to inquire more, but Sheena interrupted hastily, "So! Now that everything has been taken care of, let us be on our way!"

Sheena picked up the wing pack and stored away the extra Rheiard. The three companions each boarded a Rheiard and took off into the sky.

There was a commotion in the crowd, and a small figure came bursting out. The three recognized the shape of the child Shinta.

"Wait! Onee-san, I wanna come!" Shinta jumped and waved frantically to the group.

Sheena hovered above Mizuho and called, "Be good okay? I'm leaving you to help Orochi take care of the village!"

Shinta was sorely disappointed, but put up a brave face and saluted as the other villagers waved and cheered their chief until the aircrafts were no longer visible.

Kratos looked back to the young boy, and was reminded of Chesa, to whom he left in charge as well. _I hope she's doing alright._

"Well, this is much more efficient," Kratos said after a while, "Flying saves a lot of time, but I wouldn't have been able to before, since Lloyd doesn't have wings."

"Uuuuhh…"

Kratos slowly turned to face his son, "'Uuuuhh?'"

"Well the thing is…"

Kratos' expression was that of 'You'd better tell me, or you will be in **big** trouble young man'.

_He's already getting good at the parental glares_, Sheena thought nervously.

"Remember how I had wings when I helped replant the Great Seed?"

Kratos nodded numbly with grim horror as he realized what was coming next.

"They…uh…they never really went away exactly."


	6. Eternal Wings

**Well, I've made this chapter quite a bit longer than usual. I personally like where it's going, but if you've got something to say I'm wide open to constructive criticism. I'm sorry if something doesn't make sense - . But yeah…..**

**Disclaimer- Tales of Symphonia, mine it is not.**

CHAPTER 6

ETERNAL WINGS

Lloyd couldn't tell if his father was mad, upset, or just plain curious, but he could he could see one thing- it had the possibility of getting **really** messy.

Without a word Kratos had touched down into a clearing in the forest, Sheena and Lloyd following right after. He sat there for a while, staring out into space, blank-faced. Finally, he silently got up and walked over to Lloyd. In a flat monotone Kratos asked if Lloyd could bring the wings out. His face was ghostly and pale.

Lloyd was more than slightly confused, but he did as he was told. He removed his right-hand glove to reveal the Eternal Ring placed on his middle finger. Closing his eyes, he held out his hands and twin orbs of blue and red light appeared before him. The after-images of two magnificent swords flashed in place of the orbs. Kratos recognized them to be his own sword, Flamberge, and the one crafted by Dirk, the Vorpral Sword.

The two lights merged in a bright burst of illumination, and in their place floated the legendary Eternal Sword. Lloyd reached out and grabbed it. When he touched it spectral wings as blue as the evening sky, tipped with the color of the emerald green of the treetops, unfurled behind him. They spread out and the long feathers sparkled in the sun.

Now Kratos was circling his son, his sharp gaze analyzing him. He gently ran a hand along a feather, which felt warm and almost intangible, yet firm. Like a concentration of heat and energy- the familiar feel of mana in physical form, as his own wings were.

Kratos picked out a small feather and swiftly plucked it. Lloyd made a startled sound but just turned his head curiously.

"You felt that?" Kratos asked.

"Yeah…it didn't hurt…it just felt like a little pinch…" Lloyd fingered through his feathers and picked another small one to look at it carefully.

Kratos strode over to his Rheaird and sat there, eyes downcast pensively.

"Sooo….uh…" Lloyd was unsure of what to say and of what was going on. He looked at Sheena, who shrugged and jerked her head toward Kratos.

Lloyd held up the Eternal Sword, and in a swirl of light it returned to the ring. His wings folded close to his back, but remained out. Lloyd sat on his own Rheaird and faced his father.

"Dad-"

"How and when did you find out?" Kratos had regained color, and he spoke in a kind and gentle tone this time.

"…. It was the day after you left," Lloyd was relieved his father had snapped out of his trance-like daze and was eager to talk to him about what had bothered him for years, "You see…"

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"Huh? Lloyd, you still have the ring?" Genis sat next to Lloyd on the bench next to Dirk's house.

Lloyd was polishing the Eternal Ring instead of listening to the lecture Raine was giving at the time. The whole party (with the obvious exception of Kratos) had met at Dirk's house to decide what should be done about the governing system of their new world.

Normally Raine would have smacked Lloyd to the moon for spacing out during her speech (or ramblings, depending on the person's point of view), but this was a chance she could not pass up.

"The Eternal Ring?!" Raine immediately reverted into 'Ruin Mania' mode and snatched it from him, "Ah, you don't need it anymore, right?! After all, the Eternal sword is gone." Raine held it up in absolute bliss to the sun and admired how it glittered, "This would make for an excellent research subject!"

"H-hey, wait!" Lloyd jumped up and frantically reached for the ring, "I-I still want that!"

"Aw, come on Raine, give it back. It's special," Sheena crossed her arms and chuckled slightly at the sight.

"Exactly why it needs to be analyzed!" Raine laughed maniacally and held it out of Lloyd's reach. She then backed away into a bump in the path and stumbled.

"Aaah!" Lloyd jumped up to grab the ring that was now flying through the air and towards the river.

As his hand enclosed around it, he realized that anywhere he landed would be slippery and jagged rocks. Then again, in his current position he wouldn't have been able to make a very graceful landing anyway. He braced himself for crashing into the rocks and sliding onto his head other vital part that would undoubtedly cause pain.

"Lloyd!!"

He heard voices calling out to him, but he was focusing on the opaque, crystalline wings sprouting from his back and the gleaming, elegant sword clutched in his hand. Looking down he found himself hovering just above the rocks that could have resulted in a major injury.

Without really knowing what he was doing, he floated back down to the river-bank. He stood there dumbly, looking from the Eternal sword to his wings.

His friends ran up to him and Raine instantly swept behind Lloyd and closely examined the wings. Sheena, Genis and Collette joined Raine in admiring the beautiful wings, while Regal, Presea, and Zelos stood with Lloyd in gaping at the recovered Eternal Sword.

"Hmmm…" Raine crossed her arms and sat down to think.

After everyone had their fill of Lloyd's new appendages and the sword they once again gathered around to discuss.

"Do you know what this means Professor?" Collette asked worriedly, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little excited that some one else had angel wings.

"…Maybe it is a possibility that since Kratos was an angel, Lloyd inherited angel genes of sorts as well as human genes from his mother," Raine creased her brow as she continued to mull it over in her head.

"So, what, a half-angel? Like a half-elf?" Genis asked, he himself also in deep thought.

"Congratulations buddy!" Zelos swung an arm over Lloyd's shoulders and poked at the folded wings, "A new species! Better watch out when you enter a dark room, the Glamorous Beauty might be waiting to dissect you."

"Zelos, you should watch what you say," Presea reprimanded him.

"I agree," Raine violently smacked him over the head with her staff without batting an eye, "And no more with the 'Beauty' nonsense."

"How about-"

"Stuff it, Zelos," Sheena sighed.

"Aw, don't be so mean, my voluptuous-"

"ZEELOOS," Sheena threatened menacingly, sparks already forming behind her as she prepared to sick Volt on him. Zelos twitched and hid behind Lloyd.

"But why did they appear now? And along with the Eternal Sword as well," Regal rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"This is all conjecture, but perhaps they both came to his aid when he was in danger, or feeling great distress," Raine suggested.

"But I thought the sword disappeared when it granted Lloyd's wish," Collette reminded them.

Lloyd stared hard at the sword, then said aloud and in his mind, "Origin! Please answer me!"

"_Yes, I am here, Master of the Pact,_" a distant voice echoed throughout the air, causing everyone to jump.

"Origin? Why did the sword suddenly appear again?" Lloyd asked with a commanding aura.

"_The sword and I were always with you. You merely did not call upon us_," he answered frankly.

"But how?" Sheena retorted, "Wasn't Lloyd's wish supposed to use up the power of the sword?"

Origin seemed to laugh, and then his voice boomed, "_It seemed that he possessed far more strength than I gave him credit for. The power of his request drew from his own inner strength. Because of his vast pools of it, the sword did not need to fall apart on itself and could remain intact. The fact that he had that special exesphere and angel blood flowing through him could only help._"

"So he **is** part angel!" Raine cried triumphantly.

"_Not __**quite**_," Origin corrected her.

"Pardon?"

"_……_"

"Origin?" Lloyd called.

"_That is not for me to disclose_."

"Then whose job is it?" Presea inquired.

"_Only the boy's father has the right to give him this information._"

"What?! But he's gone!" Sheena cried indignantly.

"Yeah, probably quite a fair distance away by now," Zelos added, pointing up to the sky.

"_He will return_."

"Oh? And when will that be?" Raine snorted disbelievingly.

"_When the time comes_," he said simply.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Origin told us how the sword was stored in the ring," Lloyd explained to his father, "But to keep a stable physical manifestation it needed to use the Vorpral Sword and Flamberge as foundations. So now I can call forth either the individual swords form the ring, or fuse them to make the Eternal Sword."

"And your wings appear when you come in contact with the sword?" Kratos asked calmly.

Lloyd nodded, "Origin **did** tell me this- at times of high stress or danger, my wings will come out, like a natural defense mechanism. But since I'm not built like an angel, I have to use the sword as a medium. Otherwise, they'll appear in a more 'painful way'."

Sheena cringed slightly as she imagined those huge wings tearing right through Lloyd's back. Not a pleasant thought.

"There were occasions when that nearly happened," Lloyd smiled grimly, "I was in a few tough spots on my quest to find the exespheres. Luckily, Origin was quick on the draw each time and called forth the sword for me in time."

"And now? Since the sword is already formed, you can still keep your wings out, even though it is stored in the ring?" Kratos was trying to piece everything together and prepare for the inevitable explanation.

"Yup. I can choose for the wings **not** to come out when I touch the sword too. But-" Lloyd pointed behind him to his wings, "Once they come out, I can't put 'em back in unless I dismiss the sword."

"I assume that keeping the Eternal Sword in its whole form draws on your mana, even when in the ring."

Lloyd nodded again, "Yeah, that's why I can't keep it in that form for too long…" Lloyd looked down to the ground guiltily and muttered, "I'm sorry, dad. I was going to tell you soon…I was just waiting for the right moment…"

Lloyd felt arms wrap around him in a warm embrace and looked up. Kratos had soundlessly walked over and given him a fatherly hug. He pulled away to face Lloyd. He was smiling at his son and his eyes were brimming with kindness and knowing. Deep down inside himself Lloyd could feel the child that knew only this man as his father, crying out for the warm embrace that he had gone so long without.

"D-da…" Lloyd wanted to say something, anything, but he was afraid that if he did, he might burst into tears, like the little child he once was. The one who undoubtedly had been in this position so many times before.

"No, Lloyd, I'm sorry," Kratos held his son close again, "I said I wanted to become a better father, but I've already made so many mistakes. I should have expected this. Instead I just up and left you to deal with this by yourself for two years. The least I owe is an explanation with no secrets."

Sheena smiled and turned around to leave the two alone, when Kratos said, "That won't be necessary. I want to go on a walk with Lloyd. Could you stay here with the Rheairds?"

Sheena winked and said, "You got it."

The two walked along the forests paths, neither saying a word. By this time, Lloyd had already dismissed the Eternal Sword, and his wings had disappeared.

Lloyd's thoughts drifted to the many questions floating around in his head. Was he really a 'half-angel'? Could there be more to this than met the eye? What about the Tear? What about after everything was settled? Would his dad … no Lloyd didn't want to think about his dad returning to Derris-Kharlan. He was with him now, and-

"Lloyd."

His father's voice pierced through Lloyd's thoughts and called him back to reality.

Kratos paused for a moment, then took a deep breath, "Origin was correct- you are not a half-angel. At least not in the same way that Raine and Genis are half-elves."

Lloyd wasn't sure how that was possible, but he held his tongue and waited for Kratos to explain.

"I was born a human, not an angel. Angels are basically evolved forms of half-elves; they are not a completely different race exactly. Therefore, I am a human who has been enhanced to angel level."

Kratos glanced side-ways to his son to make sure he was following every thing before continuing, "That means **you**, someone from an 'angel' like me and a human, inherited those enhanced genes. You are a human who was born with 'angel' mana already infused with your normal DNA. So, in other words, it was as if you had ingested Aionis, except the mana hasn't merged with you, but more like it exists symbiotically with your human mana within your body."

"Like a kind of hidden ability?" Lloyd was attempting to make sense of it all.

"In a way. If a catalyst of high mana concentration, like the Eternal Sword, hadn't come in contact with you, then those wings or any other angelic trait would probably never show up. You've probably felt an increase in the acuteness of your senses."

Lloyd nodded slowly, "That's right. Ever since, my hearing and stuff have been a bit better. When I bring out my wings, they're even stronger." He turned to Kratos and frowned slightly, "But what I don't get is that my taste also gets better, instead of nothing at all. I can also still feels things, wings or no wings. In fact, I guess that sense has gotten better too. I can feel things like the wind changing to a storm, or the vibrations of someone walking around."

"Yes, you have the advantages of an angel, but are allowed to keep the things that make you human because of your mother. Your humanity has saved you from the curse of the so called 'superior beings'."

Lloyd was slightly alarmed at the way his father called it a 'curse', but decided that was a topic he shouldn't touch just yet.

"So, basically, this power sleeps inside me, and it is activated when I use the Eternal Sword or if I experience a surge of mana, whether it comes from an internal or external source. It turns on and off."

"Yes, and who knows? There maybe even more catches to it. This is the first time something like this has ever happened, at least to my knowledge. But be careful. Because you are not full angel you can probably use your powers with almost no restrictions. Think of it as a fighting technique. However, because of that they can exert a lot of stress on your body. **And** at the same time they a part of you, like an arm or leg. You feeling me pick that feather proves it. Don't overdo it."

Lloyd stopped and scratched his head, exhaling a deep breath. He grinned at his father and said, "Well, I'm glad that's all settled. I think I get it. Now I don't have to worry about the Professor labeling me for study as a new species."

Kratos had not expected him to take it so well. Lloyd may not have been a new species, but he was still a 'one of a kind'. His life would probably be difficult because of the implications that were bound to ensue.

He suddenly chuckled to himself, _Of course, I should have known. This is Lloyd- he wouldn't let this get him down after all he's been through. Not for something like this._

"Well, I suppose that explanation should be sufficient for a two year wait," Lloyd smirked.

Kratos, startled, asked, "You…really waited for two years? You really believed I would come back?"

"Of course!" Lloyd chirped happily, "I never really thought that you would go away forever. Origin confirmed it for me. Every day I waited, every morning waking up, expecting to see you. Some of the others weren't as sure….Which reminds me! I won the bet!" Lloyd threw his arms up in joy, "Now the Professor owes me one 'lecture pass'."

Kratos really didn't know what to say, so instead he just commented, "Lecture pass…that would certainly come in handy. Not that you listen to them anyway."

"Yeah, but now it will be **official**."

"A-huh."

"Hmm? Hey, it's the crater from the Odin's Tear," Lloyd pointed off between some trees.

Kratos followed Lloyd's gaze and saw the scar left behind the plummeting crystal.

"How about that? Wondered right to the scene of the crime," Lloyd laughed.

Kratos relaxed his pose and smiled as well.

The calm peace had not lasted long, for the pair felt a force that chilled the very air. The pair jerked their heads to the crater and simultaneously shot towards it.

As they reached the edge of the hole they peered down into it. At the center stood a young man, probably in his low twenties, clothed in a white and green tunic. Belts and leather straps lined his pants and shirt, similar to Cruxis-style fashion. Ruffled, jet-black hair reached down to the nape of his neck and covered his face from sight.

He didn't seem to be doing anything suspicious in particular, but the two could feel the belligerent aura emanating from him. The man casually looked in their direction, but they saw that he recognized that they were no normal passerby.

His golden eyes locked with theirs, and he flashed them a charming, harmless smile. His face was sweet, but his eyes were as hard as stone.

"Lloyd, keep your guard up," Kratos warned. He pulled out his wings glided swiftly to the stranger, all in one deft movement.

Lloyd closed his eyes and held up his right hand. In a flash, his wings were out and he swiftly followed his father.

The two landed a few meters away from the man.

Lloyd whispered to Kratos, "Are you sure it's okay to bring out our wings?"

"I have a feeling he already knows," Kratos found no reason to whisper, and leered coldly at the young man, "What business do you have here?"

The man only grinned wider and his eyes grew amused, "Kratos is it?" His voice was cocky, yet smooth as honey. He turned to Lloyd and laughed, "Hahaha. And his kid too! Damn! The old hag was right! Thor's gonna love this."

In a blur of movement Kratos had the tip of his sword only a hairsbreadth away from the man's throat. Lloyd stared in amazement, _Wow_. The man, however, was unimpressed.

Kratos never broke his icy glare, and the man never dropped his calm front or his smile, even for a second. Even as a sword was held to his throat he only smiled. It was as if he was playing a fun game.

"Why. Are. You. Here," it was no longer a question, but a harsh command.

Placing his hands on his hips, the man shook his head slightly, "Now, now, that's not very nice. After all, we are pretty much on the same side. Sorta."

Kratos' grip grew tighter on his sword and he was about to speak when he stopped himself cold. The man's eyes grew savage, and in the blink of the eye, he had escaped Kratos' reach, and vanished from sight. With a feeling of dread, Kratos pivoted on his heel to his son.

Lloyd's gaze was darting everywhere, calmly searching for the man.

"LLOYD!!!" Kratos ran to him.

Lloyd was startled at his father's outburst and stared at him, not noticing the man reappear behind him.

"Hmph. So these are angel wings, eh?" The man was nonchalantly poking at Lloyd's wings with one hand, the other placed on the back of Lloyd's head. Lloyd seemed paralyzed by his touch, even unable to breathe.

"JUDGEMENT!!!!!!" Kratos screamed, infuriated at the man for putting his son in danger.

Pillars of light came crashing down with tremendous force, creating little craters of their own. The stranger jumped backwards to dodge the attacks and Lloyd was released, falling to one knee.

The man made it to the edge of the crater, slightly out of breath. Kratos saw with grim satisfaction that the man's left arm was nearly burned to a crisp.

"Hahaha!" instead of pained, the man looked thrilled, "Well, I'd love to play with you some more, but I think I've overstayed my welcome. Everyone at home won't be too pleased about this." The mysterious man held up a hand and cried out, "Fenrir!!!"

Out of the trees shot a silver-blue streak. It landed beside the man and he climbed atop what seemed to be a humungous wolf. It had ethereal gold eyes, similar to the man's. Wooden and crystal beads and leather straps were interwoven into its moonbeam fur. It looked like a divine creature straight out of a myth.

The man gave a mock salute with his uninjured arm and called, "Catch ya later!"

With that he vanished, the wolf bounding away at high speeds.

_He escaped_ thought coldly, _That will have to do_. He walked over to his son, now sitting on the ground. _For now._

"Are you injured?" Kratos kneeled beside his son, all iciness gone.

"Nah…I'm okay. Just a little shaken up…" Lloyd let out a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry for the Judgement. But rest assured, I-"

Lloyd just brushed it off, "No, it wasn't that. I knew you wouldn't hit me. It was whatever that guy did. I couldn't move, or even breathe, at all. It was weird."

The two smiled and got up, Lloyd dismissing his wings.

"That's a relief. I was worried that releasing your wings would take too long, like before," Kratos stated at the sight.

Lloyd grinned, "Oh, that? Yeah, I can do it pretty fast; I just did it the long way to show you how it worked. I've had plenty of practice with it."

"What does that mean exactly?"

Kratos went parent on Lloyd, who just laughed nervously and tried to change the subject, "Well, uh- hey! We should get back to Sheena, she probably saw that Judgement. It was kinda hard to miss. She'll be worried."

Kratos had not finished with Lloyd, but at that moment Sheena came running out of the trees. She looked around, and when she saw them, she darted to them.

"Hey! Are you guys okay?! Was there a battle or something?"

"More like dad getting pissed off and nearly frying this guy to cinders," Lloyd smirked.

Sheena glanced at the damage, "Jeez, remind me never to get on his nerves."

Lloyd then explained what had transpired as the group trotted back to the Rheairds. By the time they reached them, his story was done.

"I see…sounds like he doesn't work solo either. He's probably part of some syndicate, But-" Sheena leaned against a tree, "I don't think Mizuho has any info on them. I've never heard of any one like that."

"If someone that powerful could escape Mizuho's detection, then they must be taken lightly," Kratos sighed.

Nobody spoke for a while. Then Lloyd broke the silence, "Well! We won't get anywhere mulling it over in this clearing. Let's get to the Professor. She might even know something!"

Lloyd's cheer and light smile infected Kratos and Sheena who couldn't feel glum now that he was so chipper.

They double-checked their supplies in case an animal got into it, and prepared to take off. Lloyd rose up into the air, and started to fly around for fun, while Sheena and Kratos were still getting ready.

"Sheena," Kratos said quietly.

"Yes?" she stopped to look at him curiously.

"Thank you, for everything. You are very kind."

"N-nah," Sheena flushed, "This is the least I can do for friends."

Kratos smiled, "But maybe you feel differently towards Lloyd?"

Sheena turned an even brighter shade of red.

"Hehe. You might be good for him," Kratos smirked devilishly and kicked off into the air.

_So he shows his true colors, eh?_ Sheena shook it off and joined them in the sky.

"Oh, yes. And Lloyd?" Kratos called to his son as he flew up next to him.

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to have to give you flying lessons with your wings. You have all the skill of a fledgling bird."

"H-hey!" Lloyd flushed and scowled angrily.

Kratos merely smirked and zoomed ahead.

"Come back here!" Lloyd raced after him, and Sheena followed, laughing all the way.

**In case it wasn't clear (sorry!) the event between the dashed line was a flashback.**

**And there ya have it. All will be revealed….eventually. And just so ya know, people will be returning later in the story (Obaa-chan for example).**

**And for those wondering who the "mysterious young man" was, I left a few clues (both in this chapter and others) as to his identity.**

** Oh, and thanks to Keeper of the Balance for the spelling correction ;p.**

**Well, I hope this can tide you guys over for a while, cuz I might not update for a little while (not MONTHS or anything, just for a bit). **

**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!REVIEW!! REVIEW!! PWEEEAZE**

**HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!!**


	7. Lessons to Be Learned

**Yes! Before anything else I must say something first: Thank you to the anonymous reviewer Symphy!! As you pointed out, the name of the wolf that appeared in my story is Fenrir, which is also the same name of the wolf that aids Celsius when you fight her. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME WOLF. It was unfortunate that Celsius' wolf has that name, but I REALLY needed to use it in here. It is very, VERY critically important that the "mysterious man's" wolf's name is Fenrir. For one thing it was the BIGGEST clue I gave to the man's identity, and second, it will help move the story along later on.**

**Oh, yeah, and about the whole Shelloyd thing- I had maybe intended that, but I thought it over and decided it wasn't really my thing (though if I did do it that way, it wouldn't be intense or anything, just little stuff, like Furuba or somethin'). If it looks anything like romance between characters, don't really think much about it..,it's probably me just messing around. So, no, it's not Shelloyd…unless that's what people really want….? Whatever makes the reader happy…**

**Disclaimer: On the subject of Tales of Symphonia- love it I do, own it I do not.**

CHAPTER 7

LESSONS TO LEARN

"Good. Now, level out, keep them straight." Kratos stood at the top of a grassy hill near a mountain stream.

The three travelers had decided to take a break for dinner and touched down in a small meadow. They were only an hour away from Palma Costa, but nobody felt like flying there, then having to face Raine's inevitable lecture on her findings, when it was already nightfall. After they had eaten, Kratos found it was a good time to start with Lloyd's flying lessons.

Lloyd had pulled them out and exhibited what he could do. Now Kratos was watching him fly, giving him advice know and then. _He actually has natural talent for this. The only problem is his lack of control over his wings._ _He must love to fly to be able to read the wind so well…hmm, like father like son, I suppose_.

Sheena was sitting a few feet off, also watching Lloyd fly. She then looked up at the stars and stretched. She got up and waved to Lloyd. Lloyd saw her and flew down to the ground.

"I'm going to set up camp, then go to sleep," she said, "I'll have your sleeping bag out. When you guys are done, just come over."

"Okay! G'night, Sheena!" Lloyd said cheerfully.

"See you in the morning," she gave a small wave.

Lloyd waved back and then turned to his father, who had snuck up behind him.

"Ah!" Lloyd was slightly startled, "Don't do that! You surprised me."

A mischievous grin played across Kratos' face, "She'd make someone a good wife, don't you think?"

"What, Sheena? Uh, yeah, I guess so…" Lloyd wasn't sure what Kratos was getting at.

"At the right age to be married as a matter of fact," Kratos said off handedly.

"Daaaad…" Lloyd slowly realized where this was going.

"I'm getting old, Lloyd. Some grandchildren would be nice," Kratos sighed and massaged his shoulder for emphasis.

"Sheena's just a-!"

Kratos laughed and ruffled Lloyd's hair, "I'm just teasing you…. But beware when you speak to her. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. I learned that the hard way."

"What, couldn't the great warrior Kratos stand up to his wife?" Lloyd grinned mischievously, and got a headlock, followed by a noogie in return.

"H-hey!" Lloyd laughed as he tried to get out of his father's grasp.

"Ah, Lloyd, someday you'll understand," muttered as he let go, "Besides, your mother was very strong willed…and special."

"Y'know, when the planet is in some kind of peril, we have to sit down and talk."

"Yes. That would be nice," Kratos looked at the dark sky and said, "Anyway, that's enough for today. You should get some rest. We have plenty of time to practice."

He began to stroll to the campsite when Lloyd muttered so softly, even Kratos' angelic hearing barely caught it, "Speaking of time…how much **do** I have? Will I live for thousands of years…?"

Kratos paused, and without looking at his son he said, "No doubt you will live longer than the average human, while still maintaining a youthful look. However, not for a thousand years; not even hundreds." He looked back to Lloyd and smiled, "Don't worry, you won't have to be alone…you probably won't live very much long past one hundred."

Lloyd said nothing. He pulled in his wings and walked slowly to his father.

Finally he whispered, "What about you? Will you have to be alone?"

Kratos froze. His mind seemed to go numb.

"Honestly," he heard his own voice speak, but it sounded distant, "I don't know. I had thought I was to finally die when Origin was released. I hadn't planned for anything after that…"

The pressure of a hand on his shoulder brought him out of his daze. Lloyd was smiling, and patted his father's shoulder.

"Well, it's settled then," he said, "After this whole thing with Odin's Tear and the gathering of the exespheres, we're going to find a way to lift this 'curse' off of you. Then you can feel, and eat and sleep, and grow old to your hearts content!"

Kratos said sadly, "Lloyd, I don't know if-"

"Ah, screw it with the 'there's probably no way' b.s.! There's always a way, if you look for it. You should know that by now! And from the sounds of it, we're gonna have plenty of time to search." Then he added threateningly, "And don't even think about going back to Derris-Kharlan, 'cause I'm not going to let you."

"Lloyd, I…"

Lloyd faced away stubbornly, "Don't wanna hear it! Look, if you're doing this to 'atone for your sins' or your past mistakes, or whatever, then why are you spending the rest of your life in space?! Is it up there where you made your mistakes, or here, on this planet? Don't you think **here** is where you need to be!?"

Kratos could only stare at his son's fierceness. Not for the first time in these past few days, he was speechless.

Lloyd's shoulders sagged and he exhaled a deep sigh, "…I…I know I'm being a little…a little selfish, too. I really don't want you to go. But…" Lloyd clenched his fists, "It's…it's so hard to watch someone you care about suffer…"

A strained silence followed, and Lloyd continued to look off to the distance, while Kratos helplessly watched him.

"Come on, let's…let's get some sleep," Lloyd's voice was dull, "I guess now isn't the time to be thinking about these things…"

Lloyd quickly made his way to the Rheairds, without meeting his father's gaze.

Kratos stared blankly after his son until he had made it to his sleeping bag and wrapped himself inside. He then trudged out to the middle of the field and sat down there, looking upwards.

He closed his eyes and muttered a quick incantation. A magic circle shone under him, and mana was concentrating above him.

"Origin."

And there in front of him stood the King of the Summon Spirits.

"_Greetings, Kratos_."

"It's been awhile," Kratos smiled dully.

"_The passage of time means nothing to either of us_."

"Heh, I guess you're right."

"_Did you require something of me?_"

"Origin, I'm going to stay here with Lloyd."

"," the King of Summon Spirits' usually impassive face fell slightly in surprise, "_But, Derris-Kharlan is well outside the magnetic field of this planet. You-_"

"I know. I've made my decision. I may not have much time left, but I'll spend the rest of it with my son."

"_...Did you want to know how long?_" Origin asked hesitantly.

Kratos shook his head, "No, I wanted to ask you a favor. Please…even if the sword were to disappear or if the pact be broken, please continue to look after Lloyd." He showed the barest hint of a smile, "I hear you've been getting him out of trouble these past few years."

Unexpectedly, Origin grinned, "_Even if two of the pact makers to whom I am connected didn't wish for me to protect the boy, I would still do so._"

Kratos grinned and guessed that the 'two pact makers' were Sheena and himself.

"_I suppose I have grown fond of his bright aura and his ideals_." Origin thought about it, then corrected himself, "_Or rather, not only his ideals exactly, but the way he fights so hard for them. He has indeed brought light to me, after being sealed in a sleep of darkness for so long._"

Kratos flinched and looked apologetically at Origin.

"_Besides, he still has an important role to play in this world's future._"

Kratos wanted to know what this role was, but he knew better than to ask for the future.

"Oh, and please, don't tell anyone about… **that**. Especially Lloyd. He has his own life to lead without looking out for mine."

Origin looked a little displeased with that, but reluctantly nodded in agreement.

There was a tranquil silence as the two ancient entities gazed out to the reborn world, remembering fondly that this was how everything was meant to be.

Then Kratos said quietly, "You have my gratitude, Origin. For telling Lloyd about my return, and for allowing me to explain things to him."

Origin only looked curiously at him.

Kratos looked down shame-faced, "I'm being so…weak and selfish. I'm so happy you did that because…you've allowed me to remain in Lloyd's mind. By telling him I'd return, he waited for me, thinking of me a little every day…instead of me fading from his memory forever."

"Uugh! Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?!"

Kratos jumped to his feet and faced an angry looking Sheena. He must have been so out of it he didn't notice her walk up behind him. Of course, the fact she had ninja stealth probably added to it.

"What are you-" he started, but Sheena wasn't finished just yet.

"Do you honestly believe that?! I can't understand how you could think so little of your own son!" Sheena paused to breathe and let her anger subside, "Lloyd didn't need Origin to tell him you'd be back. He always knew you would…he always **hoped** you would. He had faith in you."

Origin suppressed a smile, but didn't hide his light look of admiration for the girl. Kratos glanced at him, then turned back to Sheena whose gaze bore right into his.

"Besides…Lloyd would never forget you. He really cares for you; for everyone. Why do you think he wanted so desperately to keep the Eternal Ring?"

Kratos felt a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, finding he had lost his ability to speak. He only gave her a questioningly look.

"It was a gift from **you.** One of the only things he had left of you," she said softly. She stood silent for a few moments, then added, "You're his father. Think about that."

She turned without another word and stomped back to the camp. Kratos stared after her for along time.

Finally Origin said, "_How long has it been since someone has given you a scolding like that?_"

"Much too long."

A smirk began to form on Kratos' lips. Origin gave a slight nod, and began to fade away.

"I needed that. I guess I'll see you around later, eh?"

Origin smiled and then disappeared.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Lloyd opened his eyes to bright sunlight, and instantly pulled his blanket over him. No one was coming to wake him up, so why bother getting up? He was still sleepy. Then he remembered the other night.

He sighed under his covers, _I should apologize to dad. That whole thing was uncalled for. He's a grown man; he can make his own decisions…_

He was mulling it all over when the covers were ripped right off of him, exposing him to the chill morning air and intense light.

"Aah!" he sat bolt right up.

"Time to wake up. You'll get lazy and out of shape if you sleep too much!"

Lloyd looked up at the figure that was silhouetted against the sun.

"Dad…?"

Kratos was smirking slightly and already packing away Lloyd's sleeping bag. Sheena was already up and preparing breakfast.

"Wha…?" Lloyd certainly wasn't expecting a bright and chipper Kratos to greet him in the morning.

Lloyd stood up and walked over to Sheena as Kratos busied himself with packing the rest of their belongings.

"Uuh…do you know what's up with dad?"

"Beats me," Sheena shrugged, "When I woke up he told me to leave you asleep for a little longer. Then he disappeared for awhile. When he got back he was like that."

Lloyd was slightly weirded out by his dad's attitude, but at the same time it felt kind of…**normal**. _Was he like this when I was a kid?_

Kratos suddenly addressed his son, "Lloyd, come with me."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow and glanced to Sheena. She merely shrugged and smiled. Kratos had started off to a gathering of trees and Lloyd ran up next to him.

When they got there he picked up a pile of objects that he must have gathered earlier. They were a sturdy, slender stick, about five feet long, a thin, but strong looking twined rope, and what looked like a small sharp rock in the shape of a crescent moon.

"Now,' Kratos said, holding them up, "You can find these materials in the trees and out in the meadow. I suggest you obtain more than one of each. When you do, come meet me at the stream."

Lloyd attempted to ask a question, but his father zipped off to the stream before he could open his mouth. He sighed and turned to the trees.

"Well, I guess the sticks should be easy enough to find."

And indeed they were; he had selected several branches, each of different build and timber, and sliced them off within minutes. He took a quick look around the grove, and when he couldn't locate the other materials he went out to the plains.

He wandered around for a while, and then noticed a shrub with long, dry-looking leaves. There were actually many of them scattered around the meadow, but he hadn't paid any attention to them at first. Now he realized that underneath the leaves were thin, grass-like strings, stemming from the base of the plant.

Lloyd attempted to break off a string, but found that a single strand was made of very tough fibers, and therefore rather hard to break. He brought out a sword and cut off a bundle of the strings.

"Now for that rock-thing," Lloyd muttered to himself, and began searching again.

Lloyd came across a small quarry of obsidian looking stones, further into the meadow. When he looked closely, he saw that it was the same material Kratos had shown him. He tilted his head in thought, then brought out the small knife he used for crafting purposes.

Picking up a small chunk, Lloyd chipped away at it, and carved the stone until resembled the shape of the one his father had obtained.

Lloyd was about to start on another one, but stopped and looked to his right as he heard a faint tapping sound from under the ground. A small, furry head popped out of a hole and sniffed the air about it. It was a sort of mole creature, with the elongated body of an ermine. Sharp, strong claws extended from its fore paws.

Fascinated, Lloyd squatted a few feet away, and observed the animal as it sniffed around. It reached one of the larger stones and shaved off pieces of the rock, as if testing it. Looking satisfied, it began to deftly pound at the rock. This time the pieces of the stone that came away were crescent shaped.

After a while, the animal brushed of its claws in the grass, gathered some of the crescent rocks, and scurried back into its hole.

Lloyd waited for a moment before moving closer to the site. He examined the pieces that were left over, then put them with the one he had made himself. He touched the rock where the animal had been working, and started in mild surprise.

_I can't tell from looking, but by touching the rock, I can feel that it's a little different from most of the others_, Lloyd mused. Standing up, he said aloud, "Well, that's everything. I'd better head off to the stream."

What greeted him when he got there was Kratos wading in the clear water, searching intently through it as he made his way downstream.

"Dad!" Lloyd called out, lowering the materials onto a grassy bank.

Kratos looked up and quickly cut through the water without any effort, as if gliding, even though going against the current. He stepped out and when he saw Lloyd's pile, he seemed quite pleased.

"Good," he said and sat down by the materials, beckoning for Lloyd to do the same.

Kratos picked up all the sticks Lloyd had collected in one hand, and in the other he held the stick he had shown Lloyd before. Though now it had the thin rope attached to one end, and at the end of the rope was the rock.

_A fishing pole?_ Lloyd realized, but immediately returned attention to his father as he began to speak.

"As you can see, the materials are for a fishing rod," he said, "You have collected a variety of sticks here. Which one will you use?"

Lloyd examined each carefully: there were thick ones, thin, flexible ones, dense and light ones. He picked up what he believed to be the strongest stick.

"This one's strong and firm."

"Alright," Kratos said patiently, "Now imagine you have hooked a big fish."

Lloyd held one end of the stick as if fishing, and Kratos grabbed the other end.

"Pull!" Kratos commanded.

Lloyd pulled upward and back while Kratos pulled down to simulate a fish on the hook. For a few seconds the two pulled opposite with great force. Finally, the strain snapped the stick in half. Lloyd fell backwards on his behind.

Kratos held his part of the stick in his hand, and said, "It may have been strong and firm, but see how easily it snapped?"

To prove his point, he squeezed down on his fragment, and it once again splintered apart.

He then picked up another stick Lloyd had cut off. It was thinner than the last one, though not ridiculously so, and yielded easily when he bent it.

"This stick seems thinner and weaker. In reality, it is the better choice," he gripped it like the last stick, but it did not break, "Try pulling on it."

The two pulled oppositely again, but the stick took the strain much better than its predecessor, and did not snap.

"It is good to be strong, but in battle, and in life, it is good to be flexible too. That means to adapt to your situations, and sometimes you have to bend with a force, rather than oppose it," Kratos explained, then set the stick beside his finished pole.

Lloyd nodded slowly and muttered, "Right. To move with it, not against it."

Kratos nodded in affirmative and proceeded to pick up the bundle of fibrous strings from the plains plant.

"Next, we move to the fishing line. This one is fairly easy to understand. You noticed that the individual strands were hard to break, correct?"

"Yeah, I had to cut them off to get them," Lloyd agreed.

"Do you think one strand will be enough?"

Lloyd shook his head and said matter-of-factly, "No. That wouldn't be strong enough. I'd need to twine strands together." Lloyd's face lit up, "So, is that the lesson in this? That one can't stand alone in battle. You have to work with and rely on your friends."

Kratos only smiled and handed over the bundle to Lloyd, who immediately began to twine the strings together.

"Yes, that is good," Kratos took Lloyd's rope in his hand, and then picked up his own, "You understand that you must work together with your allies and not rely only on your own strength."

Kratos held Lloyd's rope taught, "Imagine each string is a person. Here you have them woven together, and the overall outcome is stronger than a strand alone. However," Kratos sliced a single string, "The rope will still hold if a single string is cut, but its strength has diminished greatly, and all the other strands have to pick up the slack."

Putting Lloyd's rope aside, he now held his taught. Like Lloyd's rope, it was made of twined strands from the meadow shrub. Unlike it, the rope was made of several twined ropes, themselves twined together. As he had done before, Kratos cut a single strand of the rope. Only the segment of twined rope that he had cut the strand loosened slightly, while the other segments held strong.

"If a strand is a person, then a twine of them is a group of allies. By taking several twined ropes (parties), and then twining **those** together, you obviously make the whole rope stronger."

"Strength in numbers?" Lloyd asked.

"Not necessarily," Kratos explained, "The point is not that you need many people to win, but more of unity and tolerance for others. It is always advantageous to ask others for help, even though they may not be your closest ally. If you have a group, you should not refuse assistance from other groups, or think yours is better than theirs. As you can see, if one group has difficulties, the other group can support them."

Lloyd thought back to his exhibition match back at the coliseum. He imagined what a force they could all be if the two groups could be if they fought against a common foe, and then saw the wisdom in his dad's words.

"Even if we really don't know that much about another group, if the need arises, we should put away our pride and doubts and fight alongside them," Lloyd voiced his thoughts.

"Very good," Kratos said, satisfied with Lloyd's statement.

Lloyd set to work making a new fishing rope; Kratos gathered up the rocks Lloyd had collected and sifted through them until he found the one Lloyd had hand crafted. How he did, Lloyd did not know.

"Can you tell the difference between the one you made, and the ones made by the Molee?" Kratos held Lloyd's in his right hand and the others in his left hand.

"Well, they **all** kinda look different from each other, so- hey, wait a minute, how did you know about the…what was it? Molee? Is that what that animal was?" Lloyd demanded in his almost child-like manner.

"That aside," Kratos brushed away his son's question, "There **is** a difference." Kratos handed Lloyd's hook to him, "Carefully adhere pressure along the hook shape. Try to feel if there is a point where it feels like it is about to break."

Lloyd did as he was told, inching along the crescent's side. He reached the center point and stopped when he felt a slight strain in the structure.

"Will it break if I use it, then?" Lloyd looked closely at his craftsmanship.

"Not right away, no," Kratos said, "You could only feel that strain because of your 'angel senses'. It will last, but not for long." Then Kratos added, "Despite its expert craftsmanship."

Lloyd hid his embarrassment and happiness at his father's praise. Then, guessing what Kratos would probably ask him to do next, he picked up one of the 'hooks' made by the Molee, and began to apply pressure.

Lloyd felt along it twice, but did not find the same fault. He examined a few others, and found the same results.

"Okay, I know that you're gonna say that the Molee's hook was stronger. So I'm thinking the moral is that man made things aren't as good as…things made in nature?" Lloyd creased his brows in concentration.

Instead of answering the question directly, Kratos said, "Do you know why the Molee needed these rocks, Lloyd?"

"Uh…" Lloyd thought for what reasons that creature would have need of them, "Um, could it be for their nests?"

"In a way. They dig underground burrows, and the actual nest itself is made from the leaves of the meadow shrubs. The stones, which are called Lunaegis Rock, are used for protection. The Molees set up a sort of mote of these around their nest, and the pointed rocks keep away most enemies."

Kratos paused for a moment, as if thinking back to something; Lloyd watched and listened intently.

"There are two parts to this lesson. The Molees and those stones have co-existed for a long time. The Molees are only one example of how we can properly use nature to help us. Instead of carving out the stone to your own will, against its grain, you can find a place in the rock where it has naturally formed that shape. Learn to use the forces around you, and for the best results, do it in a way that is not opposing it."

"And the second lesson?" Lloyd pressed.

"Simple: nature is very powerful, and has been around for much longer than you or I. Do not take it lightly."

There was a period of silence, during which Lloyd soaked in the lessons he had learned, though he certainly did not expect to discover all of this while trying to go fishing.

"Well, now that that's taken care of," Kratos stood up and brushed off the grass on his pants. He picked up his pole and waded back into the water, "I think it's time for some fishing."

"Alright!" Lloyd enthusiastically hopped in beside Kratos.

"Careful, you'll scare the fish away."

"Nah, I got this," Lloyd took a step forward and promptly slipped on some algae, landing again on his but.

"Right," Kratos shrugged.

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"Where have you two been?" Sheena demanded as she saw the pair coming toward the camp. She stopped and when she saw them clearly, she had to suppress a bout of laughter.

The two were soaking wet and looking a total mess. They both had a fishing rod clutched in a hand. There were no fish, but plenty of algae and water grass strewn over them.

"Uh, fishing, were you?" Sheena still struggled to keep a straight face.

"We attempted to," Kratos said, slightly disgruntled, "Unfortunately, we never quite got to that part."

"Well, if you hadn't pushed me into the water," Lloyd shot back.

"Ah, yes, but that was after you pulled me down when I tried to help you up after you **fell**."

"Yeah, well, you didn't seem to have a problem casting Aqua Edge into the water, jettisoning a blast of cold river water into my face."

"Nor did you have any qualms about using Beast to tackle me over the edge of that waterfall."

"Hey, that waterfall wasn't there when we started. How was I supposed to know we veered a bit downstream? Besides, I knew you could take it."

_A __**bit**_ Sheena thought, _The waterfall is almost a mile downstream. Must have been quite the little battle._

"Scared away the fish then?" Sheena said somewhat sarcastically.

"Hah! Just the opposite," Lloyd said, pulling some weeds out of his hair, "They got pretty annoyed actually. When we took our fun down to the bottom of the falls, this REALLY big fish came out and started coming at us, trying to get us to go away. Makes you think twice about going into the water." Lloyd gave a small shudder.

"A rare experience indeed," Kratos had already straightened up, and was now drying up, "Needless to say, that ended our little game."

"Don't take nature lightly," Lloyd quoted Kratos, which pleased Kratos greatly.

"Riiiiight," Sheena sat back on her Rheaird, "Anyway, when you guys dry off, we should head over to Palma Costa. It's almost noon."

"It's okay, we can just air dry as we fly," Lloyd mounted his Rheaird and was off into the sky, followed shortly by Kratos and Sheena.

Making their way to the seaside city took a little over an hour, and when they walked in through the main entrance, they were perfectly dry.

They packed away the Rheairds and strolled through the town, towards the main square.

"Hey dad, that whole thing with the lessons and stuff-" Lloyd addressed Kratos as they walked.

"They were taught to me in the same way by my father, and his father taught him, and so on for as long as anyone could remember. They are all lessons that have helped me in my lifetime, as I hope they will do for you," Kratos ruffled Lloyd's hair, "I had a feeling that those meadows held all the same materials, and after I looked around, I found I was right."

"Don't worry. This is one lesson I promise to really take to heart," Lloyd grinned and reached under his shirt, pulling out one of the Lunaegis rocks, tied around his neck by the meadow shrub's strings. This new pendant now rested beside his locket.

"Be sure you do," Kratos smiled.

"Hey, you two. We're here," Sheena called out, a little ways ahead.

They now stood in front of a newly constructed building, right beside the old church. This was the United Scholars Society's Palma Costa branch. The trio walked in and found a reception desk to which they asked to see the Sage Siblings.

"I will tell them of your arrival," the receptionist, a young lady, disappeared through a door.

"So now we learn more about this mysterious Odin's Tear," Lloyd said half to himself, "And maybe about that weird guy too."

"I sure hope that the worst has occured," Sheena said, obviously worried for her village.

"Hey, after what we've been through, this shouldn't be a probem," Lloyd wasn't short on his famous self-confidence today.

"Um," the receptionist had appeared again, looking flustered.

Everyone turned to face her.

"Yes, what is it?" Sheena asked patiently.

"Th-there's a bit of a problem," she stuttered nervously.

**Pretty long chapter for me I [review guess. Sorry its been so long, but I haven't even been NEAR a computer recently. And I still have to read some summer school books (cursed Honors Global History!)[review**

**The whole fishing thing just came from me thinking, 'hmmm, I like to go fishing with my dad. Heeeey, I can integrate life lessons in this. Cool.' Like I've said before, I'm trying to make this [review like a sequel to the game, so some things I try to imagine in videogame form. Like when Lloyd's looking for the items, the player could [review looking for these things. And the Lunaegis pendant could be like a special item, or equipment thing.**

**Well, I'm done for now. Maybe I'll update [review soon. Hmm, I wonder if subliminal messages work. Well I guess **the number of reviews I get** will tell me….which will hopefully be a lot, because I could always use [review other's opinions and what not.**

**Shiro, out [review**


	8. Search for the Sage Siblings!

**Here it is! Chapter eight! **

**[Deep announcer voiceToday on Genesis of Infinity: an action packed adventure as we discover the disappearance of the Sage siblings! Will Lloyd be able to rescue his friends!? Or in the end, will he need to be rescued himself?! And just who is this mysterious golden-eyed man, and who is he working for? Read on and see! **

**Disclaimer: ainohpmys fo selat nwo ton od I**

CHAPTER 8

SEARCH FOR THE SAGE SIBLINGS!

"They're **missing**?!"

Even though Sheena did not use a particularly loud or angry voice, the receptionist cringed as if being severely scolded. She was quite obviously new here.

"Y-you see, I-I just went to inform them of your arrival. B-but it appears that no one knows of their c-current whereabouts," the poor girl stumbled over her words and bowed low in apology.

Lloyd tried to calm the girl down, "Hey, hey, there's no reason to be like that. We can just-"

However, at that moment the door beside the front desk slammed open, and Lloyd had to roll off to the side to keep from being trampled by a stampede of students and other staff members of the U.S.S., as well as officials of the Palma Costa government force, who were running around as if hell had broken loose. Unfortunately, as he had dodged one stream of people, he fell smack dab into the middle of a gush of another, and was promptly being swept around as if in a strong ocean current.

"THE HELL?!?!" was all that could be heard from him as he vanished from the sight of Kratos and Sheena.

"Ah! Lloyd!" Sheena called out as she fought the stream.

Kratos seemed to have an invisible barrier around him, as the crowd parted from him when they drew near. His deathly glare most likely contributed to this effect. He calmly jumped up onto the desk and stood there.

Sheena half expected him to shout out for silence, but instead he said levelly, "That is enough."

His stone cold stature was an eminent force. Then, she noticed that the place was silent and looked around to see that everyone was staring at the ancient swordsman, his aura fascinating, yet intimidating.

Kratos scanned the crowd, but could not locate Lloyd. He then looked to the confused, anxious faces around him, and decided that the matter at hand needed to be dealt with of before he could find his son. Lloyd could handle himself for a while…hopefully. Kratos prayed this would not take long.

"**Now**," he said stone-faced (now **this** was the Kratos Sheena remembered), "What is the meaning of this? Who is in charge?"

The crowd simultaneously turned towards the center of the room. There stood a young man, no older than twenty-five, dressed in the uniform of the U.S.S.

"U-uh, I suppose I am?" he said timidly.

Kratos jumped forward and gracefully landed in front of the man.

"The U.S.S. would put some one so young in charge of a major city branch such as this?" he asked, a bare hint of disapproval in his tone.

"No! Of course not! Well, not under normal circumstances anyway," he attempted to show some sort of dignity and authority, but in front of the impressive swordsman, that was rather difficult.

"What is your name?"

"Osmont, Assistant Director, United Scholar Society, Palma Costa Branch. Unfortunately, the Director had to go away on business."

"Taking charge of a group of educated people shouldn't be so hard that it would result in this!" Sheena waved an arm out to the crowd.

"Trust me! I was just appointed head of all this just now when you asked!" Osmont said defensively, "You see, Professor Raine Sage had been asked to head the area during the Director's leave." He pointed to the group of people who appeared be police officials and government advisers (some of whom seemed on the verge of nervous breakdown), "And **then**, Governor-General Neil had to take leave to the Ranch Disposal site at the Old Palma Costa Ranch. So he left Professor Sage in charge of the city as well."

"I have been told that you are unaware of where she actually **is**," Kratos could see what was coming.

"That is the whole **problem**!" the assistant director seemed close to tears, "She up and vanished! Her and Professor Genis Sage! A few of us have been trying to find her quietly, before anyone found out. However, officials came to see her, and when it got out everyone went into a frenzy!"

"Even so, that is no reason to become so panicked. Is there more to this?" Kratos inquired, his calm demeanor spreading to everyone else.

"You don't know?" Osmont asked disbelievingly.

"We just got here," Sheena informed him.

"Ah, I see," Osmont nodded in understanding, "Allow me to explain. As you probably know, Palma Costa is still recovering from the damage it sustained during the time of the two worlds merging. Most of the city was ripped apart from the bottom up. We have been working on creating a stronger foundation to the city, though it is not yet complete. Unfortunately, at this time of year the ocean currents bring in strong turbulence. These waters can also carry with them monsters. In its current condition, the supports will be destroyed."

"What do you need Raine for?" Sheena asked.

"Well, being substitute Governor-General, she is the one with the authority and the key to open the gates to the under city. As stand-in Director of the U.S.S. she is the one with the most experience and knowledge with the machinery down there anyway." Osmont then added dismally, "And also, Governor-General Neil took many of our troops with him, so this made Raine and Genis our strongest assets against the monsters that are sure to attack anyone who goes down there."

"I see," Kratos took mental notes of everything then asked, "For how long have they been missing?"

"Presumably since this morning," Osmont tried to remember the details, "Professor Genis went out for a walk. After a while, Professor Raine said she would like to take a break. She left the city but neither have returned yet."

"Very well," Kratos turned to leave, "We will go and search for them. Please try to keep things under control until then."

Osmont nodded solemnly and Kratos and Sheena exited the building.

The two looked about the main plaza, but Lloyd was nowhere in sight.

"Where could he have gone?" Sheena said scratching her head.

"Knowing Lloyd, he left us to calm down the crowd and went looking for Genis and Raine by himself," Kratos stated business-like.

"He couldn't have just waited for us or something?"

Kratos allowed himself a small smile, "Lloyd not rushing in when he knows his friends are in possible danger? I think not."

Sheena sighed, "So true."

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"Ow."

Lloyd lifted himself off the ground, rubbing his head which he had just fallen on. He then noticed that he had been dropped by the frantic crowd in some back alley of the streets of the city. Not a familiar building could be found. In other words: he was lost.

A few members of the U.S.S. were still around, though the huge mob had dissipated and spread all over the city. They appeared to be looking for something.

"Uh, excuse me?" Lloyd walked up to one of them and tapped him on the shoulder, "Can you tell me what's happening?"

"This is serious business. We must find the Sages," the man ignored Lloyd and ran off to look in another side alley.

"Hmm," Lloyd felt a sense of foreboding, "What is going on? Should I go look for the Professor and Genis, or find Dad and Sheena?"

Without realizing it, Lloyd wondered to a small archway decorated with vines and flowers. He looked through it and saw a small pocket of grass and flora surrounded by tall buildings; a sort of 'secret garden'.

Lloyd started in surprise when he saw that a person stood at the center. It was a young woman with flowing golden tresses, her back turned to Lloyd. A cloak was draped over shoulders, and white robes shown underneath. She was so still and quiet, that even Lloyd's keen sense had not noticed her at first. Lloyd was about to speak when the woman turned her head slightly towards him.

Though not revealing her face, her eyes fixed on Lloyd's, and then she spoke softly, "Follow me if you wish to help your friends."

With that said, she disappeared from sight, only to reappear on the roof of the closest building.

_She's fast!_ Lloyd used the other buildings to wall jump to the roof, his guard was immediately up, _I'd better be careful of her_.

When he was up, she quickly jumped from roof to roof; checking behind her to make sure Lloyd was still there.

"Hey, wait!" Lloyd called out, "What do you know about my friends! Who are you?!"

The woman did not respond and merely kept out of Lloyd's reach.

_Ugh, this could be a trap. Should I be following her? _Lloyd bit his lip and kept his attention firmly upon the woman.

She looked back again and gave him a warm smile. Lloyd was taken aback by it, but now he believed that he could trust her. Something about her reminded him of someone, and this gave him a reassured feeling.

She reached the limits of the city and went further, running out into the plains and towards the mountains by the old Palma Costa Ranch. Lloyd hesitated only for a moment, then followed her.

Soon she arrived at the outskirts of the forests that lined the mountains, and stood there, waiting for Lloyd to catch up.

Just as he reached her, she disappeared in a flash, not leaving a trace.

"Hey, wait!"

"This is all I can do," Lloyd heard the woman's voice, but it sounded distant, as if from far away, "…good luck."

Lloyd noticed a small object fall from the sky before him. His arm shot out and grabbed it. In his hand was a medal, an intricate, knotted design inscribed on the front. He stared hard at it, and couldn't help the feeling that he had seen it somewhere else.

The sound of approaching footsteps snapped Lloyd back into alertness, and he quickly jumped up into the cover of the trees. Below him, a procession of armed and uniformed men made their way through the forest brush. They wore armor and rough leather, metal helmets adorned their heads, and cloth covered part of their faces. Lloyd shivered slightly as he was reminded of the Desians.

_Hmmm…let's try something new_, Lloyd silently drew one of his swords, and aimed. He hurled the sword through the forest at a cliff face a few hundred meters away. _Alright! Way to go angel strength and senses!_

A clear metallic ring resounded through the forest. The men immediately jerked their heads towards the sound, and with a brisk command from the leader, they all ran to it.

_Too easy_, Lloyd smirked with pleasure.

When most of the men had left, Lloyd carefully broke a small branch off from the tree. The snapping sound caught the attention of the last man, and he lagged behind, cutting him off from the rest of the group. Lloyd took this opportunity jump down and strike the man down from behind, putting him out cold.

Easily picking up the man, Lloyd proceeded to take his armor and clothing. He then restrained the man with some forest vine, and hid him up in a tree. The uniform was slightly big on him, but otherwise he looked as the other troops.

Lloyd was about to follow the others, when he remembered that the man he replaced carried an axe, not dual swords. Knowing he wouldn't be able to hide them, he unhooked the scabbards with the remaining sword and laid them in a bush, picking up instead the man's hand axe. He would be back later for the swords, and if that wasn't possible, at least they were standard swords, that could be found anywhere.

Quickly and stealthily, Lloyd reached the others and joined in their search for the mysterious sound. Eventually, a man found Lloyd's other blade and since they could not find its possessor, they wrote it off as just an abandoned sword that fell off the cliff or something.

"Alright men! Back in line, we've wasted time here!" the leader shouted and the troops immediately fell into line.

The squad found its way back to the path they were previously following, and continued on to their destination. Lloyd dare not open his mouth, wary that he might say something stupid.

Within ten minutes time, the squad came upon a small base, at the center of the north end of the forest. Lloyd knew the old ranch wasn't too far away.

The base was made up of one main building at the center and smaller shacks surrounding it, all enclosed by a metal barricade which seemed to have only one entry way. The get opened at their arrival, and the troops marched in.

Lloyd made sure to study the lay out of the area, in case he needed a quick escape, but couldn't help wondering what on Symphonia was going on here.

The squad he had followed settled down in a corner of the camp, and other members began to take off their heavier armor and walk around leisurely. Lloyd took this opportunity to explore the camp and see if he could find traces of Genis and the Professor. It was faint, but he had sensed their mana signature, and it grew stronger as he neared the base. Now he was sure they were here somewhere.

After a while, Lloyd made it to a side entrance of the main building. He was about see if he could pick the lock when he heard a people approaching from up the little pathway he had come. There was no time to hide, so he grabbed some trash bags that were sitting by the door and started strolling up the path, acting as if he was taking the garbage away.

The group of incoming people now came into sight, and Lloyd nearly dropped the bags when he saw the mysterious black-haired, gold-eyed man leading the small entourage.

"So, they are locked up in the guest room, correct?" the man nonchalantly addressed the soldier to his right, whom Lloyd recognized as the leader of his troop.

"Yes, sir," the man nodded (Lloyd got the sick feeling of a suck up), "They are being taken care of, as you ordered. No harm has come either, the boy or the woman.

The black-haired man let out a condescending laugh, "I heard the woman was quite a handful. She took down many of our men when you tried to take away her brother, isn't that right, captain?"

The captain remembered the incident ruefully, "I believe her to be demon, myself. She even went berserk when some one broke a vase. Saying something how it was a valuable piece of the Balacruf Dynasty."

Lloyd summoned all of his self control to not burst out laughing. Yep, he had definitely found the Professor.

Now Lloyd's plan was to get past these men, double back to follow them, and then try to find his friends. He was almost past them, when a hand fell on his shoulder. Following the hand, he met with the golden eyes of the mystery man.

The man stared at Lloyd for a while, then said, "What is your name? Who are you with?"

_Shoot!_ Lloyd Lloyd's mind went reeling to find an explanation.

"Ah, sir, don't bother inquiring him," the captain cut in, "He's new here, and a mute as well. He's from my squad."

On the inside, Lloyd let out a held breath in relief for keeping his mouth shut, and on the outside, he gave off a somewhat timid look, to disarm the men from suspicion.

The man lifted his hand from Lloyd's shoulder and said, "Very well then. Carry on."

Lloyd walked as fast as he could, all the while, keeping his ears strained to listen in on the group. When he rounded the corner of the building, he put down the trash bags, and as quietly and quickly as he could, he went back to the side entrance. The group had already entered and the coast was clear.

With practiced ease Lloyd picked the lock and slipped in the door. He looked around, but did not see the man, or anyone for that matter, walking along the corridors.

Wondering around the hallways would do him no good, so Lloyd focused and tried to locate the unique mana signatures given off by his half-elf friends.

Following their auras, he eventually found his way to a hallway with a set of double door at the end. He carefully crept up to it and put his ear to the door.

"Now, now Professor," the muffled voice of the golden-eyed man could be heard through the door, "We would rather conduct this in a peaceful, negotiable manner."

"Your terms of negotiation being to kidnap my brother in order to capture me and get information out of me," Raine retorted sharply.

"Yes, well, you certainly have a reputation in being quite suspicious. You wouldn't trust us to tie our own shoes. Besides, information on Odin's Tear isn't exactly out for the public," the man always seemed to speak in that almost childish arrogance, yet one could sense hidden danger in it.

There was a moment of silence, which Raine then broke, "And just who are you people anyway?"

"Hmmm," the man seemed to think it over, "I'm afraid that revealing more information than necessary would not serve us well at all."

"So, then what you **do** tell us is only what you believe will lead me to take the course of direction you wish. There is no guarantee any of it is even true."

"You **are** a clever one!" the toying laughter indicated the man was having fun with this.

_I've gotta do something_, Lloyd looked around and tried to think up a plan.

That's when Lloyd noticed what appeared to be a sort of sensor beside the door. In all likelihood it detected energy and if it was unidentifiable, the sensor would either send out security forces, or set off an intruder alarm. Odds were, they wouldn't set off an alarm just for foreign energy, for it could merely be an animal.

For the time he had been in the encampment, Lloyd kept his energy concealed, but if he channeled it correctly into the sensor, he could set it off. Then he could lure whatever soldiers came out into an open space outside. By causing a big ruckus there, he could get them away from Genis and Raine and give them a chance to escape. It was a crazy and crude plan, but hey, finesse wasn't exactly his forte. At the very least, he could reduce their numbers and wait for back up to directly rescue the two.

The problem was, if he **didn't** do it right, he would alert the golden-eyed man as well, and fortunately Lloyd was smart enough to not take on that man. At least not here and now.

Lloyd removed the helmet and other gear he had stolen and placed his hand upon the sensor.

_Here goes_, with every ounce of his concentration, he focused his mana into a small point: the center of the sensor's screen.

Bingo! The light turned from green to red, and he heard people running down the corridors. Quick as a flash, left the hallway and waited until he saw the guards. An armored soldier turned a corner and caught sight of Lloyd, who then ran towards one of the exits, though not so fast that he lost his pursuers.

After a short chase and the addition of more guards and some robotic defense droids to the force Lloyd would have to fight, they all ended up in a clear space right behind the building.

_Okay, now they can escape through the front_, Lloyd smirked, _I'll have to make quite a stir to get all the guards' attentions._

Lloyd reached to his sides to draw his swords, when he realized that he was grabbing air. There was a moment of confusion, then it hit him like Raine when she was in a bad mood and in the possession of something heavy. No swords.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Lloyd moaned.

It was a good thing no one was here to see this. He would just have to omit this little detail in his retelling of the events.

"Let's see…any techniques not requiring swords?" Lloyd asked himself as he dodged the onslaught of attacks. "Uh…Genis taught me some basic spells…I'd better try not to rely on those," Lloyd recalled how long it took him to cast them, and the following results were not often those to boast about either. "Beast it is," Lloyd sighed.

Using said attack Lloyd cleared a small area around him and immediately targeted the nearest sword wielders.

"I'll be taking these!" Lloyd swooped past a pair and swiped their swords.

Twirling them around in his hands to get a feel for them, Lloyd thought, _Since they're made to be held with both hands they're heavier and harder to use in the dual sword form. Oh well, I'll just have to make do._

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This was a troubling situation. Raine's eyes darted all over the room, all the while staying alert of the raven-haired, golden-eyed man who was currently interrogating her. She clutched Genis' hand tightly in her own, and although she did not turn to look at him, she knew he was slightly reassured by this gesture.

The two of them were sitting side by side on a reasonably comfy couch in a reasonably nice room. There was a stone fireplace in the east wall, and beautifully furnished chairs and tables were scattered through the spacious, yet not incredibly big room.

"Now, one more time: would you be so kind as to give us all the information pertaining to the Odin's Tear?" the man asked sweetly, though Raine could already feel the tension grow thicker. She knew it would not be long before the man turned to more aggressive methods.

Gears turned furiously within Raine's mind as she tried to think of a plan. At the very least she had to get Genis out safely. However, she could not give what precious little information about the tear she possessed to these men. What to do…

"What's this?" said a guard soldier, posted by the door.

Raine halted her thinking process to turn her attention, as everyone else did, to the light placed above the only exit. It had switched from its former green color to a flashing red.

"A foreign mana signature," the apparent second in command beside the raven-haired man paid little heed, "Do not concern yourself with it. The security force will take care of it."

The golden-eyed man, however, seemed to be intrigued by the alarm. "Could it be?" he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

"Sir?" the captain started, but was cut off when the door banged open.

"What is it?" the captain asked, rather irritably, the soldier that had just run in, out of breath and frantic.

"The intruder!" the soldier cried out, "He is only one, but he has already taken out a good deal of our men and destroyed many of our security droids."

"What?!" the captain raged incredulously, "Where is he now?!"

"I-in the area behind the main building."

"My lord," the captain bowed deeply to the man, "Allow me to take care of this disgrace-"

"That will not be necessary. I will go personally."

"But-"

The man stood up and smiled in anticipation, "I have a feeling a very interesting person is behind this." He flashed a look directly to Raine and instantly she jumped in realization; she couldn't help a small, triumphant smile. "We shall see," he smirked as he slipped out the door and out of sight, the Captain and a few others trailing behind him.

Two disappointed guards remained in the room, looking off in boredom as they barred the doors.

"Left," Raine whispered rapidly to Genis.

"Right," Genis nodded in affirmative.

The guard on the left sighed deeply, "Man, why do we get the boring jobs? I want to go to battle!"

"First, you are going to need to learn how," Genis said critically.

"What was that, you-?!" but the guard stopped as he noticed the boy was sitting, smiling innocently, all by himself. It did not matter however, because in that moment his world went black as a fireplace poker connected to the back of his head, and he went soaring forward.

"Hey!" the other guard drew his club and set sights on Raine, who had snuck up behind them and hit a homerun, using his partner's head as the ball.

She merely threw away the poker carelessly and moved to open the door. The outrage the guard felt could not be expressed, for he felt a swift jab by Genis to his jugular vein and was out instantly.

"Jeez, what peons," Genis sighed, kicking aside the guard's discarded weapon.

"Well, what do you know," Raine said in surprise.

"What?" Genis turned curiously to his sister.

"The door is already unlocked," she replied, swinging the door open, "They couldn't be **that** careless."

"If it's who I think it is out there, he probably took care of it," Genis said fondly.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A plethora of soldiers had advanced upon Lloyd, who easily took down the small fry. Now, the obviously more elite warriors were coming forth.

Rather big and heavily armored, a giant man lunged at Lloyd who jumped into the air and on his way down, brought the bottom of the hilts of his swords smashing into the exposed nape of the neck. The giant went down without so much as a twitch.

By now, though he would not admit it, Lloyd was feeling fatigued. Not only was he ill-equipped with unfamiliar weapons, but Lloyd had to use more energy than usual in order to attract more attention away from Genis and Raine. This, of course, did nothing to help his current situation, however.

_Origin! Where are you? _Lloyd called out futilely. There was no answer. Not that Lloyd was expecting one; he had been calling out for his Flamberge and Vorpreal Sword for some time, but he couldn't even sense Origin.

Swinging around his daggers like a man possessed, another soldier challenged Lloyd. With a fluid motion Lloyd sidestepped him and danced back and forth, left and right, up and down to evade the onslaught of blades.

"Tempest!" Lloyd jumped over the man, knocking aside one of his daggers, and landed behind him. Holding out a sword as he spun around, Lloyd slashed at the man.

It was a direct hit, and Lloyd turned to his next opponent. Suddenly he winced, as he felt cold steel tear across his left side. Rolling off to his left, Lloyd looked back to where he was standing and caught a glimpse of the dagger soldier sneer as he lay on the ground, his remaining dagger covered in Lloyd's blood.

Clutching his side and breathing heavily, Lloyd stuck a sword in the ground and leaned on it to steady himself. The soldiers saw their opportunity to attack the weakened Lloyd and rushed at him.

"STOP!!" a voice rang clearly through the air, and the soldiers instantly froze.

Lloyd followed everyone's gaze and found himself looking at the mysterious man, who had eyes for no one but Lloyd.

_Not good…_ Lloyd grimaced. He had hoped to be out of here by the time the man became interested enough to come out. However, Lloyd could sense that his friends were still somewhere in the facility. He had to distract them a bit longer. _If I last that long…_

The man smiled with delight and strode over to Lloyd. With an effort, Lloyd heaved himself up and brought his swords out before him, ready to fight.

"So you are prepared to fight me in your condition then?" he asked slyly.

"Not much of a choice, huh?" Lloyd managed a confident smirk to match the man's.

The man continued to smile. Then, so fast that Lloyd barely caught it, he jabbed forward with his arm.

Lloyd took a quick back step, then thrust with a sword. The man, however flicked it away with a hand. For the split second Lloyd was recovering, the man gathered mana in his hand and shot it to Lloyd's midriff.

Using a sword as a shield, Lloyd deflected the brunt of the attack, but still took some damage to his abdomen. Without pause, the man continued to relentlessly attack Lloyd, who now was forced into the defensive.

Finally, Lloyd lost his footing and fell, the swords knocked out of his hands.

At the moment Lloyd wavered, the man jumped back, and once again gathered mana.

Lloyd saw the magic circle glow beneath the man, and knew that he had to do something, or he was toast. He could feel the pressure rise, and was sure the spell had reached its peak. Time seemed to slow as the man began to activate the spell, and Lloyd could only watch.

As the time towards his doom drew near, Lloyd was snapped out of his daze by a booming, harsh voice tearing through his ears.

"LOKIII!!!!!!"

Instantly, the spell dissipated and the tension lifted. Between Lloyd and the man stood a woman and another young man, their backs to Lloyd so he could not see their faces. The woman dressed in flowing robes, a headdress seated atop her auburn hair. The other man wore a cloak over his clothes and his golden hair was tied in a short braid; a large hammer was slung over his shoulder.

For the briefest moment the man's smile slipped and looked upon the newcomers with a mixed look of annoyance and apprehension.

"That is enough, Loki," the golden- haired man, whose voice Lloyd recognized as the thunderous yell that stopped Loki attack, said warningly.

"So sorry, Thor," Loki said mockingly back to the man, "My mistake. We wouldn't want to reveal too much, now would we?"

"You know this well, and yet you do this!" the woman hissed.

Loki turned to her disdainfully, "I suppose I did get carried away."

"Return with us now," Thor ordered, "Your little friends have gotten rowdy, and like you, need to learn their place."

Loki glared angrily, "If you've done anything to Fenrir or-"

Loki was cut off as the two dissipated and apparently transported away to their real base.

Regaining his composure and remembering Lloyd was still there, Loki began to dissipate as well, but not before saying, "Another time then Lloyd. Until then, try to stay alive."

As he faded away he snapped his fingers and the soldiers who had remained silent and motionless, took up arms again.

_Shoot!_ Lloyd was left to fend off the soldiers, this time with no weapons, and barely any energy left. Unfortunately, now he couldn't escape even if he wanted to.

The crowd surrounded him on all sides and raised their weapons. Lloyd caught sight of a volley of arrows flying toward him, and knew there was nothing he could do.

"Forcefield!"

Lloyd watched in shock as the arrows came upon him, then fell to the ground as they hit a barricade of mana set up around him. Almost simultaneously, the outside wall to his side blew apart, and debris and dust flew everywhere, clouding the battle field. Before the dust had a chance to clear, a figure coming from the whole in the wall cut through the fog, and on his way, he brought down the soldiers in his path.

"Double Demon Fang!" he called out and cleared away the men surrounding Lloyd.

"Dad!" Lloyd said in relief as he saw Kratos standing before him.

"Indignation!" another voice recited, and a burst of lightening further cleared the area.

"Undine!" still another familiar voice was heard, and geysers of water shot forth, breaking apart the enemy ranks.

Now on all sides of Lloyd stood Genis, Raine, and Sheena.

"Guys! You're alright!" Lloyd cried happily.

"Oh, we're fine," Genis smirked, "You, on the other hand, have undoubtedly been stupid again, haven't you?"

"Hey!"

"Focus!" Raine reprimanded Lloyd as she cast a quick first aid, "There, that should help you enough to be able to escape."

Already the troops were disorganized and retreating, so the party took this as their cue to make a run for it.

Not until they reached the outer edges of the forest did the party stop for rest.

"That was your force field Genis, right?" Lloyd asked his friend as they both sat down on an old log.

"Yup," Genis said smugly, "You owe me big time."

The two boys laughed heartily, but the laughter died down as they noticed both Kratos and Raine staring sternly at them. Or more specifically, Lloyd.

There was a stretched silence as he waited for someone to speak.

"Would you like to start?" Raine asked Kratos and stepped back, as he closed in on Lloyd.

"Uh…" Lloyd looked helpless.

"That was foolish," Kratos said coldly, "You rushed into an enemy stronghold without so much as a word to us. You left behind your weapons even though you were fully aware you were in the midst of great danger. You fought a battle that was certainly not in your favor, and kept fighting instead of trying to get away…"

Raine picked up for him, "Your plan was also very brash. There were many unknown variables and holes in it. Once you established our location, the next course of action should have been to get back up, but no, you lure the **whole** base into attacking you."

"Yeah, I know but-" Lloyd began.

"But, what?" Kratos' tone immediately silenced Lloyd, "You were lucky to have lasted that long and **twice** you were almost killed. We could sense that high level spell forming as we made our way here."

Lloyd dropped his head, shame faced and was silent.

"And most important," Kratos said and Lloyd prepared himself for the worst, "…I'm glad you are okay."

Lloyd looked up in time to catch the relief on his father's face as he placed a hand on Lloyd's head.

"A little worse for wear," Kratos said, glancing at Lloyd's injured side, "But, you've been in worse shape."

"Speaking of which, let me get to work on that," Raine interrupted and kneeled down beside Lloyd to heal his injuries.

"When that's done, we should get back to Palma Costa. The guys over there are having a fit," Sheena said to Raine, who sighed.

"Yes, I should be getting back. It was not the best time for me to up and leave," Raine took a final look over Lloyd and deemed him good to go. "Just get a good nights rest, got it?"

"Right!" Lloyd bounced up off the rock, but noticed something fall out of his pocket as he did.

He bent down to pick it up and now held the medallion the woman had dropped in his hand. Again came the feeling he had seen the insignia somewhere before. Staring hard at it, a flash of memories streamed through his mind. His breath caught in his throat and at last he remembered.

Loki... Loki wore a medallion like this. And also…it was a dream. A very old dream.

**Ba-ba-bum!...Okay, I'm done. Anywho, as I'm sure you've all guessed, there will be quite a lot of Norse myth incorporated into this little story of mine. Obviously because many Tales games and even Ah! My Goddess (created by Fujishima Kosuke-san) have innumerable Norse myth roots, so I thought that would be cool and give my story the whole Tales series feel…I hope.**

**Now it is time to **_**REVIEW **_**the most important formula of the fanfiction world:**

_**REVIEWS **_**+ Many in quantity Chapters updated faster + Very happy author**

**Let's face it: everyone loves **_**REVIEWS**_

**Oh, I almost forgot...I must know. Many people stated in their _REVIEWS_ that Kratos was a little OOC or was happier than usual. My _intentions _were to show that characters grow over time and that now that he is not with Cruxis anymore and forced to fight his son, a weight is lifted off his shoulders and now he has a chance to become the father he could have been...is that bad?? Do people not like that?! I must know! Please people must tell me if I'm going down the right path with this!!**

**Shiro exeunt to stage left **


	9. Rumble in the Under City

**Greetings fellow TOS fans!! Yeah, sorry for the wait. I have a few words for you: school, homework, reading, extra-curricular activities, SATS. That's about it in a nutshell. And to all those who were wondering, yes there will be quite a lot of Norse myth, ergo it will **_**kind of,**_** somewhat follow along the same lines, but not really. More so the end then anything else. So, here it is.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, this would be the sequel to the game, and not **_**Knight of Ratatosk**_** (although, it does look interesting).**

CHAPTER 9

RUMBLE IN THE UNDERCITY

At the arrival of Raine at the front gates of Palma Costa, a wave of officials and scholars bombarded the party. For a few moments there was nothing but chaos and discord, everybody wanting to speak with her.

Already in a less than chipper mood, Raine took crowd control into her own hands. She cracked down on the frantic mob with her signature head bashings, slaps upside the head, and her half lecture-half scolding screams.

The rest of the party sat back in awe.

"I don't know which is worse- her yelling fits, or when she beats the tar out of you," Sheena commented as a soldier went flying over their heads.

"Both are pretty bad," Genis remarked, rubbing his head and wincing as he remembered past beatings.

"But it's when she gives you both that you know you're in **real** trouble…" Lloyd shivered.

Sheena was about to inquire further, but Kratos spoke first, "It would seem she has had her fill."

The scene had taken a turn from a crazy mob, to docile obedience. Raine had evidently calmed them all down, and was now issuing orders left and right. The people of Palma Costa scurried off o their respective positions and set off to work.

"Genis, come with me," Raine beckoned to her brother. She turned to the other three and said, "I'll be a little preoccupied for the time being. I'll send for you when I can talk. Until then, stay in the city and take care of anything you need to."

With that she was off, and the normal hustle and bustle of the Palma Costan streets was restored.

"Well," Sheena said after a while, "Shall we go restock on supplies then?"

The two swordsmen nodded in agreement and they all made their way to the market place by the docks.

"It seems that the Professor has everything under control then," Lloyd said.

"If she couldn't calm them down, I'm sure Kratos here could have taken care of it," Sheena shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"You should've seen him after you went M.I.A. He shut them all up with a glare and took charge immediately."

"That's because he's such an awesome and intimidating warrior!" Lloyd said proudly.

"Yeah, you could learn things from him," Sheena winked and gravitated to an accessory shop.

Lloyd opened his mouth to retort, then thought about it. Instead he turned to his father who had been inspecting swords at another shop.

"I guess she has a point. Now I gotta watch you and become a more suave, cool swordsman," Lloyd said to him.

"What do mean?"

"Don't play dumb. That would defy all laws of the natural world. I know you could hear our conversation."

"These will do," Kratos handed some gald over to the shop keeper and received a pair of slender, durable swords. He then gave the swords to Lloyd.

"What, for me?"

"You **did** loose your other ones."

Lloyd decided it would be wise to keep his mouth shut on that subject and strapped on the swords drawing one from its scabbard. He bent at it and spun it around, testing to see the way it moved. The metal was very dark, almost black, and the hilt was midnight blue. The blade was very flexible and thin, but also very strong. Lloyd was reminded of the fishing pole lesson, and sheathed his sword with satisfaction.

"They are called Noctem Saber. Sorry, but these were of good quality and build. You usually use sturdier, broader swords. Use these until you find something else that you like," Kratos put up an air of indifference. However, Lloyd was getting good at reading his father.

"Then I'll be using these for a while," Lloyd said somewhat defiantly, "I'm quite happy with them. I'll treat them with great care."

Kratos said nothing, but Lloyd caught a flash of pleasure in his father's profile. Lloyd stepped next to Kratos at the next stall and noticed some guys talking to Sheena. Judging by the annoyance on her face they were probably trying to hit on her. _Ha, the poor fools_, Lloyd laughed inwardly and turned back to Kratos. Sheena could certainly take care of herself.

"So!" Lloyd said, "I'll be wanting some fatherly advice from now on. You've got a lot of catching up to do."

Kratos couldn't hide a fond smile and thought for a moment on where to start with his son, who really **did** need some advice in certain areas.

His attention was then caught by the snippet of conversation he heard between Sheena's pursuers.

"Aw, forget it man, that's Sheena," said the first, "Y'know, Zelos' girl."

At this Kratos and Lloyd could feel the pressure in the air rise, and a clear vision of a ticked off Sheena appeared in their mind's eye.

"Yeah," said another, "He said that she's totally devoted to him, practically worships him. The lucky punk."

**That** is when they crossed the line to no man's land.

"**ZELOS** SAID _**WHAT**_?!?!?!?!?" Sheena's shrill voice echoed out through the square.

The pair slowly turned to see the enraged Sheena, pure murder reflected in her eyes, and a magic circle already glowing beneath her. The guys trying to pick her up were cowering in fear.

Kratos put a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, "You want some fatherly advice? **Run**."

"Like **hell**," added Lloyd and sprinted away.

Within seconds the two were at the center plaza.

Lloyd looked back and said, "Maybe she cooled dow-"

A huge explosion reaching up to the clouds interrupted Lloyd and the wind rushed forward, pushing him back a foot or two.

"Or not," Kratos brushed off some dust on his shirt.

"Hey, you think it was Volt or Efreet?" Lloyd asked.

"Actually, I believe that was Origin."

"**Origin**?" Lloyd looked back at the clearing smoke above point zero, "That mad, huh? Zelos is **so** dead."

Kratos nodded, "As I've said, 'Hell hath no fury-"

"Like Sheena pissed off at Zelos," Lloyd finished.

"…Crudely put, but true nonetheless."

A rush of people came flooding from the docks. Mutterings of 'demon lady' and the like reached the two angels' ears. But mostly it was either shouts of terror or stunned silence.

"May he be granted a swift and painless death before Sheena finds him," Lloyd said wisely.

"Time to asses the damage," Kratos reluctantly started of back to the market, Lloyd a step behind him.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"**WHAT** were you **thinking**?!" Raine slammed a hand down on her desk, and Sheena flushed a light pink.

"Uh…you probably don't want to know…" Sheena said lamely.

_Probably thinking of ways to make Zelos' life (and afterlife) miserable _… everyone thought simultaneously.

"We're enough trouble as it is, without you blowing up the docks!" Raine sat back in her chair and sighed, "At least there wasn't any real damage…"

"Y-yeah, that's why I summoned Origin…to try and not cause damage to the area. I knew he'd be able to control the blast…" Sheena tried to redeem herself.

"All bark and no bite to it, eh?" Lloyd said.

"It was enough for those morons, though," Genis put it in, "I think they're still in that daze; won't even move from the spot. Wouldn't be surprised if they're traumatized for the rest of their lives."

Raine stood up and walked around the desk, "Anyway, it can be repaired. And given your fame as a hero, I don't think the town will hold it against you."

Sheena gave a small sigh of relief.

"On a different note," Raine said very solemnly, "Odin's Tear. It seems to have become a very popular object these days. Enough that these mysterious persons would kidnap Genis and hold him for ransom in order to get a hold of me."

At the mention of the Tear, everyone's attention was caught, all eyes on Raine.

"So that's what happened," Lloyd said.

Genis nodded.

"I'm sorry to say that you will not learn much from me. At least not at this time."

"Did something happen with the documents about the Tear?" Sheena asked earnestly.

"No, that's not the problem I'm afraid," Raine shook her head, then asked Kratos, "How much about it is known to you? Or Derris-Kharlan for that matter."

"Unfortunately, close to nothing. Odin's Tear is nearly unapproachable, ergo hard to study. The main concern of Derris-Kharlan and the Elves who probably placed it there, was to keep it locked away so it couldn't be used for malicious purposes," Kratos replied, a hint of foreboding in his tone.

Raine fell back into her chair, fatigue coming over her.

"I was afraid you'd say that," she sighed, "For similar reasons, even the vast archive of the elves in Heimdall is lacking on information about it. And of what we do have, most of it is in an ancient language that no one can read. It would take quite some time to decipher it all."

"Maybe Dad can read it. He has quite a few years under his belt," Lloyd put in helpfully.

"I doubt he could. The Tear dates back to antiquity. Those scriptures are definitely older than Kratos."

"That's a first for me," Kratos said causing Lloyd to chuckle.

"Well, what **do** you know then?" Sheena asked Raine.

"It's actually myth and prophecy mostly," Genis couldn't hide his interest in the subject.

"Odin's Tear was supposedly constructed eons ago by a race similar to the elves and angels," Raine started the tale, "Its main purpose was hypothesized to be a sort of power source. Legends say these people had built a marvelous machination that was the height of their magitechnology. The Tear was both the battery and control center for it."

"What happened to these people and all their stuff?" Lloyd asked.

"Put simply, we don't know," Genis shrugged, "None of the records tell of their end. We barely know anything at all about them."

"This is where it switches more to prophecy," Raine leaned forward and laced her fingers on her desk, "The writings tell of a dark force that would eventually attempt to take this wondrous power in the distant future."

"Like that weird army and that Loki guy!" Lloyd interrupted.

"Yes, that is probably safe to assume," Raine nodded, "If that time should come, another power would come about to once again raise this machine. Then the world would either be saved or annihilated."

"I see," Kratos said thoughtfully.

"Of course, as Raine has said, all this is rather incomplete. A brief overview when compared to all the info we do have. So there are many holes and loose ends in the story," Genis sighed grimly.

"And of course, sometimes little knowledge is worse than none at all. It would be easy to make false assumptions, and therefore fatal mistakes," said Kratos.

"Which now leads us to what we are going to do next," Raine once again stood up.

She made for the door, and beckoned the others to follow.

"At present, the most pressing matter would be the possible disintegration of the Tear. The likelihood of the most catastrophic outcome is as likely as any other."

"Was there anything in your database about if the Tear should break apart?" Lloyd asked as they made their way down the long hall.

"Nope. Nothing at all. Least not in the parts that we could understand," Genis said bluntly.

"So what are we gonna do? Guess?" Lloyd asked sarcastically.

"Exactly," Raine winked as she opened up the doors that lead to a laboratory.

Lloyd instantly knew the room, as it was the one Raine and Genis were in when they spoke via Mizuho's secret communications line.

Again Raine went over to the safe and brought out the Exe-terminal. She took Lloyd's hand and placed the Exe-terminal in it.

"This is only a theory, but I believe it should work," she said, "The Tear is very similar to an exesphere-"

"Probably in more ways than one…" Genis muttered under his breath.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked him curiously.

Genis seemed surprised, but after a moment he regained his composure and said, "Ah, angel hearing. I forgot."

"Hmmm?" Lloyd tilted his head.

"It's really nothing. Don't worry," Genis smiled with an effort.

Raine cleared her throat and spoke loudly, "Lloyd, now is not the time to interrupt. You need to hear this."

_Changing the subject are we?_ Kratos observed.

"S-sorry Professor," Lloyd apologized.

"As I was saying, I believe that there are enough structural similarities between the two that the Exe-terminal should be able to track it. If it did not dissipate, we simply find it. If it **has** then there might be a way to use the Exe-terminal to recreate it without causing a dangerous reaction."

"How?" Lloyd asked.

"The process is still in the development stage. There are a few things I need to check first. Until then," Raine again led the way out of the room, "There's something I must ask of you all."

"Hmm? What?" Lloyd questioned. They were now climbing down a wide stair case, reaching far beneath the surface.

"I would presume you need us to take of the monsters plaguing the supports of the city," Kratos said coolly.

"Correct!" Raine activated a large gate, which swung open to reveal a maze of pillars and supports that reached high up to the city's base. Palma Costa's Under City

"Whoa!" Lloyd exclaimed at the sight.

All along the supports were workers busily scurrying to and fro. The scene was similar to a colony of ants, building its nest.

Lloyd noticed that most of the people looked very nervous and jumpy, always looking over their shoulders.

"What's this talk about monsters?" Lloyd turned to Kratos.

"Oh yeah, you missed that part, huh?" Sheena said, "Well-"

"No time," Kratos grabbed a hold of his sword and jumped across the tops of working platforms into a section by an outer wall.

As he touched upon the railing of the outer walkway a section of the wall gave way, and a mob of monsters poured in. Kratos batted away debris with his sword, using the power of the draw to slice through the cement and the nearest enemy.

"Dad!" Lloyd called out and swiftly followed the same path to aid his father.

"Wait up!" Sheena shouted.

"Sheena! They have that side covered. We can defend the west side," Genis pointed to the opposite end where more monsters were pouring out.

"Good. I'll be going around aiding the construction workers," Raine ran further along the main staircase to a large gathering of panicked people.

Meanwhile, Kratos and Lloyd had already cleared the breech. They now were working their way toward the center where some of the sea creatures had escaped to.

"Hey pops! You're not getting tired or anything, right?" Lloyd teased as he skewered a large Sea Jelly creature.

"Hmph," Kratos grunted and with a few flashes of his blade, the giant starfishes surrounding him fell to the ground. "That makes twenty-seven. Quite a few made it through," Kratos said nonchalantly, but Lloyd recognized it as a challenge and fumed (the Sea Jelly was his nineteenth).

"Alright you're on!" Lloyd smirked and chased after some more monsters.

Five minutes later….

"Thirty, thirty-one!" Lloyd called out, slicing a monster with each sword.

"Forty-five," Kratos said and beheaded a monster with ease.

"Thirty-nine!"

"Fifty."

Elsewhere…

"Power Seal!" Sheena blasted away the oncoming monsters and ran up to Genis to support him.

"Forty-seven!" Lloyd's voice rang out through the underground cavern.

"Idiot," Genis and Sheena grumbled in unison.

"Well, at least we know where he is from his voice. They should be getting close to the center," Sheena observed.

"Yeah, we should just make our way inwards. That should cover everything," Genis said then cast a deadly Thunder Blade.

"Fifty-one!"

The two just sighed and continued their work.

Atop the main staircase, watching the chaos, stood two figures. Unbeknownst to the people in the Under City, and shrouded in shadow, they made their way in and searched the area from their vantage point above them.

"Seventy!" rang out the loud voice.

"Good to see he's enjoying himself," laughed the taller of the two in a deep tone.

"Let us go," the other said and they ran off down the stairs to the heart of the Under City.

Back to Lloyd and Kratos…

Lloyd jumped over the wall to the center area and expertly batted away the Fishes lunging towards him.

"And that makes ninety-nine!" Lloyd thumbed his nose.

"It would seem we are tied," Kratos looked up and down the walk way, but for once there seemed to be no enemies.

"What?!" Lloyd looked desperately around for a tie-breaker. He noticed movement in the corner of his eye and saw a starfish around the corner. "Aha!" he shouted triumphantly and started after it.

In a blur, Kratos surpassed him, and now they were both running full force after the starfish, who was frantically fleeing for its life.

"You're mine!" Lloyd jumped forward and performed a Psi Tempest.

It missed, however, and Kratos took this chance to attack with a Hurricane Thrust. The little guy was quick on his feet though, and barely escaped death.

"Get back here!" Lloyd chased after it again.

"Lightning!"

In a flash of light the monster was gone.

"Aw man!" Lloyd pouted and looked down the walkway to see Genis and Sheena coming towards them.

"Looks like we are at a stand still, seeing as Genis disposed of it," Kratos held his sword at his side and smiled at his son who was sorely disappointed.

"You were **competing** with him Kratos?" Genis said incredulously, "I thought he was only counting to further inflate his ego."

"Zip it, Genis!"

Lloyd was then pushed roughly to the side as Raine came running past them.

"What are you all standing there for?!" she called behind her and they all ran after her.

"Hey, I've been wondering," Lloyd ran beside Raine, "Why the heck are all these people still here?! It **is** kind of dangerous, and we might not be able to protect **all** of them."

All around the halls, workers were still conducting their construction on the supports.

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" Raine asked sarcastically.

"Oh, I don't know, how about **evacuating** them?!"

"That question was rhetorical!" Raine smacked him over the head, "These supports **need** to be finished soon! Once we do that, we can close off this area, so we don't have to worry about these monsters. Until then, they need to be here and fortify the pillars."

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to hit-" Lloyd stopped mid sentence.

"You sense them?" Kratos said quietly.

Lloyd nodded his head, "There are more monsters at the center. And some people are in trouble too."

"Let's hurry then!" Genis said.

"Now we can settle the score!" Lloyd turned to Kratos, who smiled slightly in response.

Half a minute passed, and finally the party found themselves at the door to the heart of the Under City, which also served as a water drainage area. The two swordsmen busted through and prepared for an ambush.

"What the heck?!" Lloyd cried and lowered his swords.

"Wow," Genis muttered.

Before them was a sea of monster corpses, their bodies spread everywhere. Workers were gathering to the sides, still looking a little dazed.

"Who…?" Lloyd began, but was interrupted by a deep voice behind him.

"So there you all are."

The party turned and looked up to find a tall man, and a smaller girl standing atop a scaffolding.

"Regal! Presea!" Lloyd called happily.

The two jumped down and greeted their friends warmly.

"I apologize for arriving a bit late," Regal said to Raine. "I hope this makes up for it," he gestured to the multitude of dead sea monsters.

"Yes, thank you for your help."

"It's good to see you guys," Lloyd smiled.

"Yes, it has been a while hasn't it?" Presea gave a small smile.

"It would be wise to wrap up the situation and continue this later," Kratos referred to the hundreds of monsters strewn throughout the Under City.

"Ah, Kratos. So it's true, you have returned," Regal held out a hand and Kratos shook it, "And you're quite right. How can we help out, Raine?"

"It will all be taken care of," she waved a hand to the construction workers, "The specialist down here can finish up with the supports, and we can organize a clean up crew. The time of day when monsters usually attack has passed, so we won't have any worries for now."

"You can count on us Miss Raine!" a man working above them called out.

"We should be done by tonight," yet another reported.

"Right," Raine nodded, "I will come down to close up and check on things when the construction is complete." She turned to her friends, "We should get some rest then. From what I could hear, you two took care of quite a few of the monsters."

The seven of them made their way up the main staircase.

"Hehehe, it was nothing," Lloyd beamed, "It'll be nice to take a break though."

Lloyd relaxed and let his guard down. Instantly Kratos noticed the gesture from behind, and ran forward to catch his son just as Lloyd's knees buckled and he began to fall backwards.

"Whoa!" Lloyd cried out before he was reinforced by his father.

"Lloyd! What's wrong?" Genis asked, concerned.

Kratos eased him down to sit on a step. His whole body was shaking slightly.

Raine and Regal kneeled by Lloyd to examine him, while Kratos held him firm.

"There are no injuries," Raine muttered.

"His pulse has quickened, and his breathing is labored," Regal diagnosed.

"It is probably fatigue," Kratos said, "You pushed yourself beyond your limit. You were already tired form your injury and from fighting half an army."

A look of guilt came over Kratos. "I shouldn't have let you fight. At least not so hard. I am sorry."

"N-no, it's my fault!" Lloyd stuttered, "I didn't go at a steady pace like you. I wanted to beat you, so I went too far. Don't worry about it!"

Lloyd smiled and tried to stand up to show it was no big deal, but couldn't manage it.

"Come on, it's actually pretty late. You should get some rest," Regal said and hoisted Lloyd up on his back.

"Yes, I'll go ahead and arrange for some rooms," Raine ran up ahead of them.

Sheena, Genis and Presea walked along one side of Regal and talked with Lloyd. It was clear to see they were worried about him. Kratos walked along on the other side, looking down, but watching Lloyd from the corner of his eye.

_I shouldn't have let him fight…_ Kratos scolded himself.

Then Kratos felt a hand grab onto his own. He looked to see Lloyd's hand holding tightly to his own as he faced the others and spoke to them. Even without looking, Lloyd knew how his father was feeling.

From that angle only Regal could see, and he merely smiled and looked forward.

_Thank you…_ Kratos smiled and squeezed back.

The party left the cavern and the workers busily carried on with their project. And high up among the rafters stood yet another individual. There his large and muscular frame was perched, far above the heads of the people below him and covered in darkness. His sharp eyes watched on as the group exited the caverns.

"So the boy already begins to feel it," he muttered huskily to himself and stroked his short, coarse beard.

A slight disturbance in the air beside him caused his eyes to shift to his left, though he did not move.

"Ah, Verdandi. What do you need of me?" he spoke softly to the woman who now stood at his side.

She tucked her long brown hair behind her ear and out of her face, revealing her deep, blue eyes. Her blue robes flowed elegantly around her, though no wind was blowing.

"Lady Frigg has called a meeting," her voice was clear as a crystal bell, and her face was pleasant and kind.

The man let loose a grand sigh and stood straight, "Very well. Let us be off."

In seconds the rafters were once again empty and silent.

**Oku-doku, that's it for now. I hope all of you are enjoying this! (it's my first fic, so I hope it's doing all right). **

**Okay, see ya next time, and remember, reviewing is good for the health, both yours and mine (I feel good people are reading my story, and I can make it better, and you feel good you're learning literary critique and you made some one smile). ;D**


	10. Adage to a Dream

**Hmmmm….I've already gotten to chapter ten, huh? This is quite fun, and I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and read my story so far (those who haven't are more than welcome to, and don't feely shy about spreading the word and telling your friends about it;p)**

**Before anything else, I'd like to answer the questions and confusions brought up in reviews:**

**Cyathula- I apologize for the mix-up, I suppose I wasn't really clear in my writing. Lloyd's Vorpreal Sword and Flamberge are both currently residing in the Eternal Ring, and they combine to form the Eternal Sword. The swords that Lloyd left behind in the forest were very basic, plain blades he used on minor enemies that didn't deserve to be cut down by the greatness of his most favored swords. **

**(btw, I did not kill off Colette. She's in the story too. Though I would have no trouble thinking of a way to 'take care' of her…hehehe)**

**freakyanimegal- THANK YOU! Sorry, but it's always been a dream of mine to write or say something worth quoting (weird, I know). Maybe someday, I will write/say something worthwhile, and someone will put it on their online journals, or maybe I'll hear a stranger speak it as I walk by…**

**As for all of you wondering what the heck is going on with Lloyd and the Tear and the mysterious group of people- I'm afraid you're just gonna have to wait and watch as the story unfolds (Fehize's guess was pretty good, but not quite either). I hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Legally, Tos does not belong to me, but the pure joy it brings belongs to everyone.**

CHAPTER 10

ADAGE TO A DREAM

Long winding stairs of whitest marble. Countless arches, curved gracefully like the necks of swans. Endless corridors etched with ancient markings.

Lloyd found himself wandering aimlessly through the halls of this grand and elegant structure. Out a window was blue sky and lush vegetation overhanging from the many balconies. Crystal clear water streamed along the canals running through the far reaches of the stone marvel.

Without being truly aware of what he was doing, Lloyd walked on until he reached the outside. Before him was a wide staircase, that led to a large platform overlooking the entire grounds. Lloyd began to slowly climb the stairs.

Though the place seemed beautiful and serene Lloyd had had an apprehensive feeling all the while. This feeling only intensified with every step. For apparently no reason, he broke out in a cold sweat and his nerves seemed completely shaken. He forced himself to stop and calm down.

Unable to move or look away, he had to go on. As he moved to ascend, a rushing of small footsteps sounded behind him, and suddenly a small child swished past him. The child ran in an almost fluid movement, as if a shadow, and disappeared from Lloyd's range of sight.

Eventually nearing the top of the stairs, Lloyd saw the child standing at the center of the platform, his back to him. He seemed to be looking at something etched in the ground.

There were now only a few steps left and Lloyd's dread was reaching its peak. The moment Lloyd stood upon the platform, the child turned to him, and for the first time, Lloyd could see what he was staring at. All at once the symbol upon the medallion, carved into the platform, and the face of a younger version of himself hit him full force.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

"Has he woken up yet?" an anxious Genis asked his sister as she walked out of the room Lloyd was currently resting in.

Genis and Sheena had gotten up from their seats in the living room of the inn the instant the door opened and Raine came out. Presea had remained seated in a large chair that made the small girl look even smaller and frail (though she was far from it). Kratos stood aloof in a corner of the room, leaning against a wall. He seemed to make no movement at Raine's arrival. Meanwhile, Regal was in the kitchen fixing up a meal for everyone (being made much easier by the fact that his shackles had been removed). It was now noon of the day after the fight in the Under City.

Raine sat down in a chair, concentration and deep thought deep in her facial features.

"No, still sleeping soundly," she said

"It's nothing to worry about though, right? He's just tired?" Genis said in slight anxiety.

It was at times like these that Rain remembered just how young Genis really was, despite his intelligence.

"He'll be fine," she said kindly, "However, there are some things that intrigue me."

"Such as the nature of his collapse," Kratos spoke up and everyone turned in surprise.

"Yes," Raine nodded, "I'm sure fatigue played its part, but it is still strange. What he lacks in book smarts, he makes up in strength. In my opinion, he is too tough for such a violent reaction."

"I agree," Regal now joined the discussion, "There is also the fact that he was trembling dramatically. An effect similar to when the body rejects foreign mana intake."

This time Presea spoke, "Or in other words, when the mana of an exsphere and a human are in confusion if the exesphere is removed without a Key Crest."

"But Lloyd's exesphere has a Key Crest," Sheena pointed out. "And besides wouldn't we have been able to sense if his exesphere went haywire? Especially you guys," she referred to Kratos, Raine, and Genis.

"That's not what you had in mind, though, is it Raine?" Genis asked quietly.

Instead of answering him directly she addressed Kratos, "Because they are humans Sheena, Regal and Presea probably have not felt it yet, but I'm sure you have. Just like Genis and myself."

"Felt what?" Sheena asked curiously.

Kratos was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Odin's Tear. As these two have elven blood, and I am an angel we can feel the energy it is giving off currently, even from afar. If we were closer, you all would probably feel the effects as well."

"Raine and I noticed this energy wave about a day ago," Genis said.

Kratos merely nodded.

"At the time we were unsure what it was, but one thing we definitely knew was that-"

"It was a familiar energy. Like an exesphere," Kratos finished for him.

"Is that what you meant when you said the Tear was similar to exespheres in more ways then one?" Sheena asked Genis.

"Uh…yeah," he mumbled.

For a while no one spoke, everyone deep in their own thoughts.

"Either way, we won't get anywhere like this. Let us eat something and wait for Lloyd to wake up. We can take a course of action after that," Regal walked back to the kitchen.

The mood lifted at that and Genis joked, "It's amazing the level of complexity we can attain in our conversations when Lloyd isn't around."

At that moment a large pillow came flying at Genis's head at supersonic speeds, landing a direct hit.

"Ow!" Genis held his head in his hands.

"Well, he is now!" Lloyd was standing in the doorway, fuming.

"!" Kratos seemed to notice something, but before he could say anything another pillow went whizzing by, very nearly hitting Lloyd.

Instantly, a full out pillow war broke out between the two. They brought it to the bedroom where there was more ammo and crashing, breaking sounds followed. The more mature members of the group could only stared wordlessly at the door.

The sounds of destruction were then replaced by bouts of laughter, and the two were found strewn on the floor among the wreckage. They grasped their guts as they continued to laugh hysterically.

This was immediately halted by slaps to the heads, courtesy of Raine. Her annoyance was all too clear.

"Sorry, sorry," Lloyd laughed, "We'll clean it all up."

The bedroom was closed and labeled hazard zone, and the group moved to the living room for some lunch.

"Right after lunch, you two are to make sure that room is spotless!"

"Yes ma'am," the two sighed.

Lloyd was sitting in a chair and trying to mold his wild bed-head hair, into his wild normal hair. He felt the back of a hand touch his forehead, and looked up to see Kratos checking his temperature.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You've regained some color at least," Kratos mused.

"Huh?"

"?"The room's focus shifted to the redhead swordsman, who stated coolly, "You didn't notice? When you walked in, you were deathly pale, and your body heat had dropped drastically."

Lloyd looked blankly at him for a few seconds, then he cried out with a start, "Oh, yeah! Now I remember! I had this really weird dream and woke up in a cold sweat, and stuff."

"And you…forgot?" Raine asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Completely slipped my mind when I heard Genis's comment."

"Only an idiot like you could attain such ignorance as to forget you're sick," Genis sighed.

"Shut it, Genis!" Lloyd threw another small pillow, but it was caught mid-air by Raine who shot him a death glare that said 'Don't you **dare**'.

"What was this dream about?" Regal asked as he brought out trays of food, assisted by Presea and Sheena.

Grateful for the change of subject (Raine looked close to bashing his head in with the pillow [impossible you say? Lloyd was sure she would be able to find a way to do it) he launched into a description of his dream.

"I see…" Raine's eyes started to take on that tell-tale glow of Ruin Mania Mode, "You described it as a castle, yes? Hmm…I'm not aware of any of that size or structure…"

"There is always the possibility that it was merely an edifice created by Lloyd's own imagination, and does not actually exist," Regal reminded her.

"Yes, I suppose you are right," Raine sighed in disappointment.

"Oh, and the weirdest part…" Lloyd reached inside his pocket and pulled out the medallion for everyone to see, "This was the symbol on the platform. I've also seen Loki wearing a medallion like this."

"!"Raine and Genis started in shock and Raine said in a bare whisper, "Wh…Where did you get that?"

"You see, I met this woman in Palma Costa when I got split up from Sheena and Dad, and she told me to follow her if I wanted to find you guys. So I did and after she led me to the forest where you where held in, she left me this and disappeared."

"And you followed this complete stranger? Even though it could have been a trap?" Kratos's voice was calm, but Lloyd could see a flash of anger in his eyes; mixed in was a trace of fear and relief.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Lloyd apologized, "But, I **really** felt like I could trust her. If nothing else, I have good instincts, right?"

The edge of Kratos's mouth curled a fraction of a smile, "I suppose you are right. You have to exercise more caution however."

"Yet another piece to the puzzle," Regal pondered, "Raine had filled us in earlier when she called us, but it is only getting more complicated."

Raine, however, was absorbed in the medallion.

"Uh…Professor? Is something wrong?" Lloyd asked.

"This symbol…it appeared frequently in scriptures concerning the Tear."

"!"

"Then could that castle have been built by these ancient peoples?" Presea questioned.

"I honestly don't know. The symbol was never actually addressed by any of the writings. It just kept appearing; mostly in the unreadable sections."

"Agh! This is confusing! It's like everything ties together, but we can't figure anything out!" Lloyd ruffled his hair in frustration.

"Regardless of what we do not know, one thing is for sure," Kratos said calmly, "Odin's Tear is at the heart of this."

"Which means we must find it in all haste," Regal nodded his head.

"Precisely why we are here," Presea said.

"?" Lloyd looked from them to the Professor.

"I had called Regal to obtain information on the process to repair the Tear," Raine explained, "The Lezareno Company has many resources and research information."

"And when Presea and I heard that our friends were in need of assistance we set off for Palma Costa at once," Regal smiled.

"Of course," Presea nodded.

"Okay, so what is it we're going to do exactly?" Lloyd asked.

"What is the probability that you will actually listen to the process if I explain it to you?" Raine sighed.

"Uh…."

"Exactly. I will inform you all about it if the time comes."

"So what are going to do now?" Sheena asked as she collected the empty bowls.

"The first thing to do is go to Gaoracchia Forest and use the Exe-terminal to try and locate the Tear," Kratos said.

"Right, so-" Raine began, however the door opened at that moment and a maid peeked her head through.

"Um, excuse me Miss Sage, but Governor-General Neil wanted me to pass on a message to you."

"Has he returned then?"

"No, he is currently in Meltokio. A meeting of the Symphony is being called, and all representatives have been called. Oh, but the Head Director of the U.S.S. Palma Costa Branch has returned, so he can take over your duties."

"Very well, thank you."

The maid bowed her head and ducked out of the room.

"Do we really have to go?" Lloyd sighed and couldn't help but show his boredom.

"You know the rules. All representatives must be present unless there's an emergency," Sheena stated.

"But this is an emergency!"

"If you had been paying attention, you would know that we still have a couple of weeks before the worst of the **possible** effects occur," Genis reminded him.

"Actually, Lloyd and Kratos do not need to be present. They are not the heads of any area," Presea said.

"However," Kratos cut in, "Under the circumstances, it would not be a good idea to split up. If this group attacks again, we stand a better chance together."

"This is true," Regal agreed.

"Alright then, It's off to Meltokio," Lloyd perked up. He knew there was no point in moping around, so he'd just try to bear with the boring talk.

_Later that day…_

The group walked through the front entrance of Meltokio, greeted with the highest respect by the guards.

"I remember a time we had to sneak in through the sewers. Now, they give us a hero's welcome," Lloyd chuckled.

"The meeting doesn't start for another hour," Sheena said.

"We will get ready for the meeting. Everyone agree to stay within Meltokio, and we'll all meet in the council chamber," Raine announced and everyone went their on way.

Lloyd noticed with a chill that as Sheena walked away she was grinning evilly and whispering something to herself that he wasn't sure he wanted to hear. Something about 'that leaves plenty of time…' Lloyd decided to stay out of it.

"So, whaddya want to do?" Lloyd turned to Kratos.

"Lloyd, there is something I have been meaning to ask you," Kratos said seriously.

"Yeah, what?"

"Have you been able to establish a connection with Origin lately?"

Lloyd started and became solemn, "No. Not since I went to rescue Genis and the Professor."

"That would explain why you did not call forth the Eternal Sword," Kratos speculated, "I can not seem to reach him either. I am sure Sheena realizes this too."

"It's like there's a wall or something…but it must not be because the Eternal ring is busted or anything, because I can still pull out my wings."

Kratos raised an eyebrow, "Without the Eternal Sword?"

"Not exactly," Lloyd tried to explain, "I can't speak with Origin, but I can kinda still **feel** the sword. If I concentrate I can feel a familiar presence in the ring. The Eternal Sword is still there, and I can draw on its powers, but I can't fully form it."

"This is troubling," Kratos said ominously, "Never mind the fact that we can not contact Origin which is a problem in and of itself, but a time when you require the Eternal Sword may come shortly."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it right now. We might just have to wait it out," Lloyd shrugged.

"Perhaps."

The two were then interrupted by the sound of a large crowd approaching. Even from a distance, the swordsmen could hear the giggles and chatter of a flock of young noblewomen. And that could only mean one thing.

"Yo, bud! How ya been doing?" and none other than Zelos emerged from the crowd, as always grinning like an idiot.

Zelos waved to the pair and made his way to Lloyd. He stopped abruptly though, as one of Lloyd's swords came thrusting forward. If Zelos' battle skills matched his tact, he would have been skewered.

"What the hell?!" Zelos looked disbelievingly at Lloyd who raised his sword to attack again, "What're you **doing**?!"

"Sorry, Zelos," Lloyd said apologetically, "But trust me, this is for your own good." And Lloyd struck again.

"My own **good**?!" Zelos was still dodging Lloyd's attacks.

"Yeah, if Sheena finds you-"

Zelos had begun to run away, but he ran smack dab into Sheena and fell to the ground. He looked up to see the 'demonic banshee' glaring maliciously down at him.

"_I've been looking for you __**Zelos**_."

With the speed of a panther Zelos leaped up and ran over to Lloyd.

"O-on second thought, make it quick," he stuttered.

But before Lloyd could oblige, Zelos was grabbed by the shoulder and lurched backwards by Sheena.

"Oh no Zelos. You're not getting the easy way out. I'm gonna let you **live**," the evil grin came upon her again and she proceeded to drag him off to who knows where.

"Poor, guy. I couldn't get to him in time," Lloyd shook his head ruefully.

Kratos merely shook his head in exasperation and began dragging his son off to the castle, "Come, let us go. We might as well just wait for the meeting to start."

"What?! Aw man, I don't wanna be stuck in that stuffy room," Lloyd pouted.

Lloyd huffed and puffed, but made no action to go against his father. Any time he spent with his dad was fine with him, no matter how boring.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Duke Regal Bryant of Altamira, President of Lezareno Company."

"Sheena Fujibayashi of Mizuho."

"Presea Combatir of Ozette."

"Professor Raine Sage of Exire, Ambassador of Half elf - Elf Relations."

"Dr. Genis Sage of Exire, Ambassador of Half elf- Human Relations."

The role call had been taken and the representatives of each region had announced themselves. Except-

"It seems we have two representatives missing," reported the Symphony Secretary.

Kratos stood by the outer wall of the round room, Lloyd standing beside him. A circle of chairs had been set up at the edges of a balcony that circumnavigated the room, leaving a wide space in the middle for a podium in which people could take turns to speak before the whole council.

Lloyd looked around to locate the empty seats. His gaze stopped at Sheena, who was sitting opposite him on the other side of the room. Her face was impassive, and Zelos was no where in sight.

"The council leader of Iselia and-" the secretary began but a loud bang halted her.

The doors had clanged open and a flustered figure dressed in white with long blonde hair quickly walked in.

"I-I'm so sorry I'm late," the young woman apologized fervently, "Colette Brunel of Iselia reporting."

"Hey, Colette!" Lloyd called out and waved.

Colette turned excitedly to him and waved back with a big smile, "Hi, Ll-"

She could not finish due to the fact she stumbled forward and tripped, falling flat on her face. She immediately jumped back up and assured everyone she was fine.

"Ah, that's our Colette," Lloyd chuckled to himself.

"That leaves the Chief Attendant of the Conjunct States of Triet and Flanoir," the secretary said as though the disturbance had not taken place.

"A message has arrived and it seems he is currently detained. He will be coming much later. His permission was given to continue without him," one of the guards announced to the council.

"Very, well. We shall then begin," the King of Meltokio stated and the room uttered a sound of consent, "The first order of business will be addressed by Professor Sage."

The people of the Symphony all turned to Raine and she began to speak, "As I'm sure the people in the areas surrounding the Gaoracchia Forest have noticed, an object from the sky crashed to the ground…"

Lloyd knew she was going to explain briefly about the Odin's Tear, and tuned out. He began to look around the room, barely aware of what was being said.

_Master of the Pact…_

Lloyd snapped to attention at the sound of Origin calling to him, and he could see from Kratos's expression that his father heard him too.

_Origin!?_ Lloyd called back.

_Beware…is waiting…Eternal Sword…follow the energy signature…_

"What?!" Lloyd whispered, Origin's voice was fading, and now he was silent yet again.

"Lloyd, did you hear that?" Kratos asked, his lips barely moving.

"Yeah, but-"

And that's when Lloyd felt it. The strong energy signature, emanating from the outer gates of Meltokio. Whatever, it was, Lloyd was sure it was waiting for him.

Kratos had felt it, and was about to turn to Lloyd, when said idiot ran swiftly out of the room.

"Lloyd!" Kratos hissed under his breath and followed his son.

The silent escape of the two swordsmen went unnoticed by everyone except their friends, who were startled by their behavior, but were forced to continue on with the meeting.

Lloyd was now running down the large stairs at the center of the city, and Kratos was not too far behind.

"Lloyd! Wait!" Kratos commanded, but as Lloyd turned to respond, he was cut off from Kratos by a large masculine figure, that appeared like quicksilver between them.

The man lashed out at Lloyd with a large sword held in his left hand, a shield covering his right. Lloyd threw himself backwards to avoid the devastating blow, then somersaulted in the air to land at a good distance from the mysterious attacker.

This attacker would have gone after Lloyd again, but he now had to face Kratos' near invisible attacks.

The two sparred for what seemed forever, but must have been only a battle of a few seconds. As Kratos occupied the great warrior's attention, Lloyd decided to try out his new blades.

"Sword Rain Alpha!" Lloyd cried and his multiple sword thrust and deft upper cut managed to decimate the man's shield.

His right arm revealed, Lloyd saw the man was actually missing his right hand.

The man smiled and jumped upon the roof of a nearby house.

For the first time he spoke to Kratos in his husky voice, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "Your skills are indeed impressive. I should like to face you in a real battle someday."

In what seemed and old habit, he stroked his short, coarse beard. Still speaking to Kratos, yet looking at Lloyd, his smile slipped and the gleam faded, "However, it is not your strength I have come here to assess."

Without warning, the man lunged for Lloyd and forced him into a deadlock. Kratos ran forward to aid his son, but was stopped by what seemed to be an invisible wall surrounding the two. As soon as he touched it, he staggered and fell to one knee. Kratos could not seem to control his body correctly, and his vision began to distort.

"Dad?!" Lloyd saw his father fall and instantly, he let his guard down.

"Fool!" the man shouted, and knocked Lloyd down on his back.

Lloyd moved to get up, but the point of the man's blade kept him pinned down.

"My, he broke your shield, Tyr? You're not losing your marvelous skill, are you now?" a musical voice floated through the air.

Lloyd turned his head a fraction to see another strange man standing behind Kratos, who was struggling to get up.

This man was obviously not a warrior, like his companion, for he was slender and his features were soft and smooth.

Again he spoke in his melodical, almost hypnotizing voice, "Is the flaming haired one causing a distraction? I could dispose of him if you wish."

His voice was heavenly, but his words betrayed his malicious nature.

Tyr's face and eyes were unreadable as he spoke, "I have no authority over you, Bragi."

The man known as Bragi merely smiled snidely and with a strength that seemed unlikely of his delicate frame, he grabbed Kratos' shirt and dragged him upward. Kratos made an attempt to fight him off, but he was still feeling the effects of whatever the strange wall was, and Bragi easily ignored him.

"No! Leave him alone!!" Lloyd shouted, forgetting about his own predicament.

Again Tyr pushed Lloyd roughly down, saying darkly, "Your fight is now with me. Do not concern yourself with the fate of others when yours looks so grim."

No emotion showing in his face, Bragi threw Kratos forward, and any one but the four-thousand year swordsman would have landed lamely upon the ground. Kratos, however, managed to get to his feet.

None of this bothered Bragi, who simply gathered energy within his palm and let it loose at Kratos. Kratos prepared his body to jump out of the way, but, then realized his son was lying helplessly there behind him. If he moved…

Before Lloyd's horrified eyes, Kratos was struck down by the blast, that he could probably have evaded.

"DAD!!!" Lloyd screamed and for a moment he seemed to blank out in shock.

"Well, that was boring," Bragi sighed, "I was hoping for a **little** more-"

He stopped abruptly, and his head turned slowly to Lloyd's direction. A fierce wind began to pierce the air and the atmosphere around them had grown thick with mana.

Tyr had already retreated to his comrade's side, and they both stared in awe as Lloyd slowly stood up, his face downcast, and a faint glow emanating from him.

Lloyd turned to the pair and glared at them through crimson colored eyes. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed to slits and brilliant wings spread behind him.

The glow intensified and he shouted out, "ORIGIN!!"

With that the energy pulsed out in a deadly wave, and before his outstretched hand the legendary Eternal Sword materialized. The wave of energy pushed Bragi and Tyr back a few feet; at the same time, a high pitched screech shot through the air, and the invisible barrier was broken creating a brief vacuum.

The wind inside the space flew in all directions, and it was in this chaos that the pair decided to take their leave. In a flash of light, they were gone.

Slowly, the air settled to its original state. Lloyd stood there for a few seconds, breathing hard and completely dazed.

He then remembered his father, and letting his wings and the sword fade, he ran to Kratos' still frame on the ground.

"Dad?!" Lloyd shook his father, his voice frantic with worry.

"…It will take more than that to kill me…" the bare whisper uttered from Kratos was enough to quell Lloyd's fear.

Grudgingly, Kratos sat up, and with Lloyd's help he was able to stand up and brush himself off.

"Come on, let's get you to the Professor," Lloyd pleaded.

"I can take care of my own wounds," Kratos ruffled Lloyd's hair and smiled, but then his faced turned serious, "What I want to know, though is what just happened. Are you alright?"

Kratos checked his son's temperature and looked him over.

Lloyd, annoyed by his father's lack of self-care retorted, "**I'm** fine. I wasn't the idiot who didn't move out of the way of an attack that moved slower than a snail."

Kratos merely smiled and said, "You knew that I would never put you in harm's way."

"And **you** knew I would have gladly taken that hit for you," Lloyd snapped.

"Sorry, not while I still draw breath," Kratos said slyly, "By the way, our friends are coming."

"Lloyd!! Kratos!!"

Sure enough, the whole group was sprinting down the stairs towards them.

"What on earth?!" Raine started.

"What happened?" Colette asked, looking around for the source of immense energy she had just sensed.

"Uh, I'd like to know that myself," Lloyd was obviously just as confused.

"Indeed," Kratos agreed. Then his eyes darted to his left and an almost non-existent smile reached his lips, "It seems we have company."

Everyone followed Kratos' gaze and was startled to see a young man before them, his electric cerulean hair tied in his signature ponytail. An identical smile to Kratos' appeared on the face of Yuan, the Renegade leader.

"Long time no see, Kratos," he smirked, "A few days here, and you're already mixing up trouble."

**Okay, I'm done for now. I wrote this at like three o'clock in the morning 'cause that's when I got my inspiration, so don't be upset if it's a little rushed or something. I promise the next one will be better. **

**Wanted: reviewers with skills in constructed criticism and has opinions to suggest.**

**Skills necessary: only the ability to dream (and being able to type I guess)**

**Benefits: Stories have a higher chance of being updated frequently, with higher caliber likely.**

**Oh, yeah. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I probably won't get another chance to say it. Out of curiosity, what are people going to dress up as? If you don't mind my asking (I don't wanna hear any nonsense about 'being too old'. You're never too old to gorge yourself on high levels of sugar;D) I'm gonna go with either a Shinigami from Bleach, or dress up in a kimone and black veil with those Japanese straw hats and be some kind of ancient Japanese princess or spirit.**

**Well, happy holidays. For those who don't celebrate it, I wish you happy days anyway.**


	11. The Aesir

**So here it is. Sorry for taking so long!! Writer's block busy schedule slow internet speed(ergo very little internet time) SLOW UPDATE. It's a pretty long chapter (for me at least), but I'm not sure if it's very interesting. I had to do a lot of explaining and such. My Humblest apologies. If there wasn't enough action or something, I will try to get to it in the next chapter. I guess this chapter also has a lot of friendship and character building in it as well.**

CHAPTER 11

THE AESIR

"I recall helping you out of plenty of tricky situations, Yuan," Kratos responded coolly to the renegade leader's remark.

"Yuan. So, you have finally arrived," Regal greeted the half-elf.

"Yes, sorry for being late," Yuan turned away from Kratos and addressed the others, "Although, shouldn't the Symphony still be in session?"

"Technically, it still is, but after these two ran out, we all sensed that strange power surge and came to investigate," Sheena jerked her thumb to indicate Kratos and Lloyd.

"Ah, that reminds me," Yuan faced the red-clad teenager, "Lloyd."

"Uh, yeah?" Lloyd was apprehensive.

"You are an idiot."

"What?!" Lloyd was incredulous (despite being told this fact more than once).

"Not that we didn't know that already, but what did he do this time?" Genis sighed.

"You fell right into their trap. Then again, I suppose you **did** destroy their disruption signal," Yuan seemed to be talking to himself more than Lloyd.

"First of all, who are 'they'? Do you mean those guys who just attacked us?" Lloyd questioned.

Yuan raised an eyebrow, "Isn't it obvious? They are the ones who have been attacking you for a while now. I believe Genis and Raine were kidnapped by them recently."

"They're from the same group? Do you know who they are?" Lloyd pressed.

"They are a group called the Aesir. Not much is known, but the Renegades have picked up a **few** things," Yuan emphasized the 'few' to make sure the group would not expect him to be a wellspring of information.

"The Aesir? What do you know about them?" Raine asked.

"Before anything else, I believe it would be a good idea to get back to the Symphony. You would not want to keep the council waiting."

There were still many unanswered questions hanging in the air, but everyone knew that Yuan was right. Quickly, they made their way back up to Symphony Hall- where, of course, the representatives were all making a big fuss over the situation.

"What is going on?" the King immediately started interrogating Raine, and then he noticed Yuan walk in, "Ah! Chief Attendant Yuan, how nice of you to make it to the meeting."

Yuan merely nodded curtly.

"Now if everyone would calm down, I will explain what I know," the Professor used the same tone as she did when setting to order a rowdy class. Fortunately, it had the same effect upon the crowd.

"As I was saying before the interruption, there is an unknown group moving about with motives that are not yet clear-"

"It would seem there is very little you **do** know, Professor," the representative of Sybak cut in hotly.

"Precisely why I intend to find out," Raine continued calmly, deflating the man's ego instantly, "They have again attacked. The only thing we are sure of is the Odin's Tear, and that they mean to get it."

"Very well. The Symphony discussed your suggestion in your absence and has agreed to grant you your request," the king of Meltokio nodded gravely, "This meeting is now adjourned."

At that the representatives rose from their seats and quickly exited the room. Yuan just as quickly left the room for his private quarters, the others hot at his heals.

Genis was quietly conversing with Lloyd as Raine pestered Yuan with questions ahead of them. Kratos drifted in between the four.

"He really thinks he's in charge of the whole thing, doesn't he?" Genis scowled, "Always giving orders like that."

"Who?" Lloyd asked.

"The King of course."

"Huh. I guess," Lloyd shrugged.

"If anyone has authority over the Symphony, it is not the king," Yuan said to Kratos, drawing his attention away from the boys.

"That is true," Raine agreed.

"Is that so?" Kratos smiled lightly.

"The one person who can command the loyalty of most of the representatives of the Symphony is Lloyd," Yuan clarified.

"You should have seen him at the first meeting," Raine reminisced proudly, "The King was getting something of a big head, still thinking he was fully in charge, but Lloyd put him in his place. He said he did not just risk his life to save the world and then have it brought into chaos because of a bunch of bickering children. Of course, Regal, Colette, Sheena, Presea, Genis, and I rallied behind him; then Pietro of Luin and Neil of Palma Costa came to his side. I suppose Yuan also considered himself Lloyd's ally."

Kratos glanced sideways to Yuan, who remained stoic, but said, "The King knew not to challenge Lloyd again, who undoubtedly has the support of most if not all of the Symphony."

"I see," Kratos replied, inwardly smiling at his son's charisma.

Yuan reached a door in the far reaches of the complex and opened it for everyone to enter.

"Okay, Yuan, you wanna fill us in now?" Lloyd folded his arms in front of him as the others sat down to listen.

Yuan took a moment to compose his thoughts, "First off, I will address the matter of the event that has just taken place. Lloyd, I'm sure that before now, you were unable to contact Origin for some time."

Lloyd nodded solemnly.

"That is because the Aesir had somehow created a signal that disrupted the Mana Wave Frequency. Like light energy, mana flows in waves, and sometimes even particles. Their signal nullified the mana waves and scrambled any particles that may have slipped through," Yuan turned to Kratos and said, "Kratos felt the full brunt of the signal when he hit a barrier set up around Lloyd and Tyr."

"Who?" Genis asked.

"Tyr, he was one of today's attackers. We are aware of the identities of only a few of the Aesir members," Yuan answered.

"Hold on," Lloyd cut in, "How do you know what happened? You weren't there."

"I had one of my men watch you and report back to me."

"Why didn't you ask him to help Lloyd and Kratos then?" Colette wondered aloud.

"That wouldn't be very good judgment. He knew his man didn't stand a chance. Despite his arrogance, Yuan **is** a good leader," Lloyd teased.

With that comment, Kratos realized Lloyd had not only grown stronger, but a bit wiser as well.

"Besides, we had everything covered," Lloyd said cockily.

Or not.

"As I was saying," Yuan plowed on, unfazed, "Kratos was affected by the signal and was unable to focus mana or any other mechanical function."

Everyone stole a quick glance at the swordsman, who merely gave a slight nod.

"However, Lloyd cancelled their frequency for a moment, which allowed Origin to make contact with him. Combined, his and Origin's power dispersed the signal completely."

"But how was Lloyd able to do so?" Raine questioned curiously, "According to what you have said, this signal should be disrupting the Mana Wave Frequency, and that includes any similar frequencies: meaning Summon Spirit, Elven, Human, and Angel alike."

"We do not even really know. There are only hypotheses and speculations. Nothing based in fact or hard evidence. It would be pointless to try and work on knowledge like that," Yuan sighed tiredly.

"Okay, then. You know of the history of Odin's Tear, correct? Or more specifically, its personal prophecy?" Regal asked.

"…I would not say our information is whole and I can not yet guarantee its accuracy," Yuan answered carefully.

"Do you think that this Aesir group is the 'dark force' attempting to regain the lost power of ages past?" Presea continued on the question.

"Without a doubt," Yuan replied with not a moment's hesitation.

He then took the silence from the group as his cue to continue, "From records we have gathered that this group has actually been around for quite some time. Behind the scenes of history, they have secretly called upon powerful political and royal figures in attempt to manipulate them. Some famous kings have been corrupt by these people."

"But in all these years I have never heard anything about them," Kratos mused aloud, indeed troubled by this news.

Yuan shrugged and said, "For some reason or another they have never tried to come in contact with Mithos. Or if they had, we did not know of it. Furthermore, although they have been around for a while, they have never taken such bold actions until now."

"What is happening now that would warrant such a response?" Regal questioned.

This time Raine answered, "Well, for one thing, the two worlds have been united, and Mithos, a very powerful obstacle if he chose to be, is gone."

"True…" Lloyd mulled it all over in his head.

Yuan nodded and said, "So far, at least three of the Aesir have shown themselves: Loki, who was often the emissary between the Aesir and our people, Bragi, another contact for us, and Tyr, supposedly the muscle of their operations."

"And there were those two other ones," Lloyd added.

At this Yuan showed slight surprise and asked, "Were there? I was unaware of any others appearing."

"Yeah," Lloyd continued on to describe them, "There was this one guy with gold hair and a giant hammer, and a slightly older woman with brown hair and really fancy robes."

"The hammer is Miolinr, the trademark of the one they call Thor. As for this woman, I do not know," Yuan now looked deep in thought.

"Either way," Raine spoke up, "Right now we have to worry about the Tear. Once we have it, we can decide what to do next."

"Yuan, do **you** have any idea what might have happened to it?" Genis turned to the older half-elf.

For a moment Yuan's face looked grave, but he simply said, "I rather doubt it shattered. Beyond that, I can not be sure."

"Well, then," Raine got up and made for the door, "There are preparations that have to be made. Everyone should get a good sleep. We leave first thing in the morning."

Regal, Preasea, and Sheena also got up to leave.

"I guess we also have some things to take care of," Sheena sighed.

"I left in a bit of a hurry. I should meet up with father," Collette smiled and bowed out of the room.

In a rare moment of insightfulness, Lloyd noticed the two angels and ancient friends. They seemed to almost avoid each other's gaze, yet it seemed they each wanted to say something.

Lloyd smirked, and pulled Genis by the hand, "Okay, then! We're off! Have fun catching up."

"Wha?" Genis was haplessly dragged off, and the door banged loudly behind them.

"Interesting kid you've got there," Yuan commented lightly.

"…"

Lloyd kept walking until he was sure that they were a distance away that the two angels believed he had left, yet not so far so that he could not hear them. Then, he swung behind a corner and listened.

"What's this?" Genis whispered rhetorically, "We leave them to talk in private, but you eavesdrop on them anyway?"

"That's the idea," Lloyd winked.

Genis sighed and rolled his eyes, but made no move to leave.

"I suppose there is not much you want to say right now," Yuan ventured and smiled good-naturedly at the red-head.

Kratos stared ahead; finally he exhaled and said, "We have been at odds for such a long time. It is not easy to just talk." He suddenly smiled mischievously and added, "And there was that one time you threatened to kill my son."

For maybe the first time since Lloyd had met him, Yuan began to laugh, "Oh, yes. Sorry about that."

The sound of footsteps could be heard (by Lloyd at least), and the two eavesdroppers (again, at least Lloyd) prepared to spring away.

"You should know," Kratos said quietly, "I do not feel any malice or distrust towards you. I hope you feel the same."

The doorknob began to turn when Yuan spoke up, "Kratos, as your friend, I have something to tell you. I shouldn't be mentioning this, for it is only a theory, but I want you to know."

After a second's pause he continued, "We have an idea of why Lloyd was able to cancel out the disruption signal. There are only really three types of life forms that produce mana: humans, elves, and summon spirits. Half-elves are sub-species to elves and humans, and angels are advanced forms of half-elves. Because Lloyd is human, yet has angel blood, and is also steeping with summon spirit energy from exposure to Origin, his personal mana frequency might actually be very similar to the Mana Wave Frequency.

In that moment when Lloyd experienced that surge of power due to distress, he let out high powered waves of that frequency. This would have boosted the natural Mana waves, allowing them to overpower the disruption signal."

"…But if that is true…" Kratos seemed stunned, "The Mana Wave Frequency is the source of life, but in high, concentrated doses, it can be deadly to people."

"Exactly."

For the duration of the conversation that concerned him, Lloyd slowly, but steadily tensed, and became more distraught with every word. He was not entirely sure what everything meant, but for certain, it all made him nervous.

"You'll need to keep a close eye on him. This time, it was okay. But in the future, if he is feeling too much negative emotion, he might jus revert to something like the disruption signal. Again this is all theory but you can never be too careful."

"…Yuan…" Kratos started.

"Technically, I am supposed to be silent and let it run its course to see what happens. I have told you now, and it is yours to tell to Lloyd if you so wish."

"…Thank you."

With that, the door creaked open, and Lloyd and Genis shot off as fast as they could down the hall.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Wha-mmf?!"

Lloyd swiftly covered the young half-elf's mouth to stop his sudden outburst.

"Shh!" Lloyd hissed and used his free hand to lift a finger before his mouth.

"Okay, okay," Genis said in a low voice and took Lloyd's hand away, "But Yuan said it was all just a guess, right?"

The two friends were currently sitting atop the main steps of Meltokio, a bag of groceries and travel items between them. They had gone shopping for supplies, and during that time, Lloyd had told Genis what he had overheard.

"Uh, I guess so, er," Lloyd looked flustered and confused and the ruffled his head in frustration, "Agh! I don't even really understand what they were talking about…"

Genis let out a sigh, _shoulda seen that one coming_, he thought.

"Basically," Genis explained, "From what you told me, Yuan thinks you might have the same kind of energy as the Mana Wave Frequency, which scientists believe is the current on which all mana travels through space. What that ultimately means, however, could be endless."

"Huh?"

"Obviously, no other living organism has had this happen before. There's no telling how certain mana will react to you, or what effect it will have on you. After all the events with Cruxis and the Eternal sword and everything, maybe just like your angel powers, this frequency of yours could have recently surfaced."

"Hmmm…so the bottom line is, no one really knows what it means yet…" Lloyd mused.

"Pretty much," Genis shrugged, "But you should be careful and keep your powers in check. A dangerous reaction could take place and cause a lot of harm to you…"

Lloyd noticed how Genis cut off a bit short and looked troubled, "Hey, Genis-"

"_Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggghhh_…" a ghostly whisper blew against the back of the teens' necks and they proceeded to jump out of their skins and down a flight of stairs.

"Aaaaaaaah!" the two screamed and turned to face the spectre.

"Holy-! Zelos is that you…?" Lloyd squinted at the emaciated ooze of a person lying haphazardly along the steps.

"Is he dead?" Genis slowly inched toward him and prodded what they believed was Zelos with his Kendama.

No response.

"Huh, I guess he is," Lloyd scratched his head.

"Should we bury him?"

"Nah, that'd take too long." Lloyd snapped his fingers as an idea came to mind, "Hey, I know! Use Grave and encase him in earth!"

Genis looked thoughtful, "Maybe we should make **sure** he's dead. I could use Earth Bite so the lightening finishes him off, and then bury him."

"That's okay. I'll just stab him. Y'know, like pie and cake n'stuff. You poke them to make sure they're done."

"Hey, you were actually paying attention when I gave that baking lesson!" Genis seemed satisfied.

Lloyd rubbed the back of his head and laughed, "Uh yeah, sure! Most of it anyway."

"You just wanted the cake, didn't you?" Genis huffed.

"**Anyway**," Lloyd unsheathed a sword and held it above Zelos, his face emanating evil, "Here goes!"

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH**!!!!!!" Zelos jumped up and grabbed Lloyd by the collar, "You little brats!!! You were serious?!?!...And what's with those grins?!"

Both Genis and Lloyd's face were dark with mischievous smirks, and the next moment they burst out laughing.

"Ahahahaha! That was awesome!" Lloyd gasped between bouts of laughter.

"You're so fun to mess with!!" Genis was nearly tearing.

"Oh, I'm gonna mess with you guys alright."

"Hey, look! It's Sheena!" Lloyd pointed past Zelos.

"Yeah, right. Not falling for that. That Amazon isn't behind me."

"Is there any particular reason you are manhandling my son?" a dark voice asked menacingly.

"You're right. It's worse," Lloyd smiled.

Zelos turned to his side and there standing tall beside him was none other than Kratos, wearing his usual stoic expression.

"Gah!" Zelos immediately let go.

"Ah, don't worry!" Lloyd tapped Zelos on the shoulder good-naturedly. Zelos on the other hand looked completely listless and soulless.

"Ugh…I. Can't. Take. Anymore…." He droned.

"Seriously though," Lloyd tapped him on the head, "She's really coming down the street.

"#!!" Zelos whipped around in time to see the reaper of his tattered soul turn the corner and walk towards them.

"Save meeee!" Zelos glomped on to Lloyd's leg.

"Hey, guys!" Sheena came up and greeted them pleasantly, "Zelos? What are you doing?"

She looked down around Lloyd's leg curiously.

"Uh, hiding from you?" Genis responded for him.

"Whatever for?" she asked, dangerously sweet.

At this point, even Genis and Lloyd were freaking out.

"Weren't you mad at him?" Lloyd wondered.

"Oh, I got that all out," she smiled, and for the barest second her face turned demonic as she muttered, "But I hope I shall never have to be so cross with you ever again. Is that clear, _**Zelos**_?"

Zelos slowly nodded.

Sheena's face brightened and she whistled a happy tune as she skipped up the stairs, leaving an awkward chill in her absence.

"…"

"…"

"…so, Zelos. What exactly did she do?" Lloyd looked down to find Zelos unconscious and foaming at the mouth.

"Who has to carry him back up?" Genis questioned.

The boys looked at each other, then looked at Kratos.

"Since we have to get these groceries up to Raine, we'll leave this to you dad!" Lloyd and Genis quickly grabbed the bags and tried to make a run for it.

"Hold it," the icy voice stopped them in their tracks, "This will give you an excellent chance to exercise your newfound strength, Lloyd."

And so it went: Kratos and Genis carried up the bags, and Lloyd was left on Zelos clean-up duty. Bu the time they reached Zelos's manor, Lloyd merely kicked the door to his room open, and dropped him roughly on the bed.

"Now," Kratos stood, arms folded, "It is time you two got to sleep."

"Yes, sir," the two mumbled in unison.

The two trudged up the stairs, but were stopped by a quiet mumbling.

"…? Did you say something, dad?" Lloyd looked back.

Kratos looked up at them, and, looking slightly red, said more clearly, "…Make sure you brush your teeth…"

It took a minute for the words to sink in, but soon a smile spread across his face and he said, "Taking fatherhood in stride, eh? Right, I won't forget."

With that, the two ran up the stairs. After preparing for sleep, the friends made their way down the hall and stopped in front of their respective bedrooms.

Genis was about to turn the knob when Lloyd spoke up, "Hey, Genis. Before, when we were talking, it looked like something was bothering you, or that you wanted to say something more…"

Genis stopped, but continued to look down at the door.

Finally, he looked up and gave a small smile, "I was just thinking about what Yuan said. Y'know, Lloyd, you should really be careful. You always get riled up so easily. Try to take it easy until Kratos talks to about it."

Lloyd took a quick glance down the hall, where those who were still awake were making last minute arrangements. Needless to say, Kratos was among them.

"**If** he decides to tell me."

"I'm sure he wouldn't try to keep a secret from you, unless he absolutely had to," Genis reassured him.

"Yeah, I guess….well, anyway, g'night Genis."

"Night…"

As the doors closed, Genis immediately plopped on to his bed, and dug his face into his pillow.

_I'm such a coward_… he thought to himself. _I couldn't tell him…Not only could his powers be a danger to himself, but any life forms around him. I know I'm not afraid of him…I'm afraid of his response. If I told him that, he would be upset. He might try to leave for our sakes._

Genis tossed and turned in his bed until he was curled up in a ball, _I don't want him to go…_

Eventually, he drifted off into a restless sleep, alone with his thoughts.

Elsewhere…

Outside the window, a full moon rose to light up the sky. Lloyd's room was bathed in moonlight as well, and inside, he was fully awake. He lay on his side, propped up against his arm, staring out at the stars. With his enhanced hearing, he could tell that everyone was now saying their goodnights and finding sleep in their beds. Turning, he let himself land on his back, and stared up at the ceiling.

_It won't do me any good wondering about this_, he reasoned to himself, _might as well just get some sleep…_

He was once again on his side, facing away from the door and towards the open window, when he heard his bedroom door click.

Instantly, he went into sleep mode. If it was the Professor, she would be checking to make sure he was up late doing something stupid. She never did quite get over the time he had snuck out in the middle of the night in Flanoir. He played in the snow with Noishe and earned himself a nice cold the next day.

Soft foot steps treaded the lush carpet, and the door closed gently. For a moment the person stopped before the bed, then kneeled beside it. By now Lloyd could tell that it was in fact his father who had come to check up on him. However, he decided to stay quiet, to see what would happen.

A cool hand carefully brushed stray locks of hair out of Lloyd's face. Kratos pulled the covers up more over Lloyd, and fixed them neatly around him.

Almost inaudibly Kratos whispered to himself, "It's been years since I've tucked him in bed."

Kratos went back to stroking his son's hair. After a few moments, he said a bit louder, "Lloyd…do not worry. We will find out what is going on. I do not know if what Yuan said is the case, but I will not let anything happen to you."

Lloyd had a suspicion his father did not buy the fake sleep, but continued on with the charade anyway. Soon, Kratos took a chair, and set it next to the bed, seating himself in it. Since it was Kratos, he would doubtless be here all night, he himself not needing a wink of sleep. But before he knew it, Lloyd had fallen into slumber, and when he next opened his eyes, it was sunlight that spilled through his window.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Good morning Lloyd!" Genis greeted his friend as they each left their room.

"'Morning," Lloyd sleepily rubbed the drowsiness out of his eyes.

Lloyd looked both ways down the hall, and then double checked in his room. Finally, he stopped and scratched his head in puzzlement.

"What's up?" Genis asked.

"Uh…well, I was just wondering…my dad was there last night, and he's gone…" he scratched his head in slight embarrassment.

"What? Miss your daddy?" Genis teased.

"Gah! Shaddup!" Lloyd yelled out and proceeded to chase his vertically challenged friend through the hall and down the stairs. This succeeded in waking up everyone that was still sleeping away peacefully.

"Meh, I'm gonna kill 'em," a very grumpy Raine thrust a pillow over her head in order to salvage what little dregs of sleep she could hold on to, "After I shleep."

The chase continued past the living room and when the fresh smells of breakfast wafted to their noses, it became a race to the kitchen.

"DAD?!"

"Kratos?!"

Lloyd stopped short as he entered the kitchen. Genis then collided into his back, causing both to fall to the floor.

There, instead of the expected sight of Zelos's butler cooking the meal, Kratos had taken of the mercenary's cape and put on the cook's apron. He had just finished garnishing a fruity dish when they had entered (stumbled) in.

"Good morning," Kratos said a bit stiffly, for he was still not used to showing much emotion, especially in front of other people besides Lloyd.

"Uh, good morning," Lloyd and Genis returned, a bit stunned.

"Are you…hungry?"

The two slowly turned their hands to the table which was filled to the brim with all sorts of platters and delicacies that they had not ever seen before. Just as slowly, they turned back and pointed, "All of that? You made?"

The ancient swordsman (and apparently, cook) gave a small nod, "Sorry. These are all recipes from my time. I am not very good with modern dishes."

"Historical cuisine?!?!" an infatuated Raine pushed right through the pair and immediately set to work examining the food.

Single file, everyone started to fill the room, only to stop and gawk at the "ancient" (in a manner of speaking) feast.

"Ah! This is a commoner's dish from the Balacruf Dynasty! And this is a lost dish of Tethe'allan Royalty. A native seafood dish of the extinct Thoda Geyser tribe! I must sample these immediately!"

Without further pause, the party sat down to fill their stomachs and expand their palate.

"I've heard of a few of these foods form Raine's books, but nothing beats eating them," Genis said happily chomping down some sort of egg crepe.

"Doesn't matter to me. Food is food. And this food is good!" Lloyd used his simple logic for just about anything.

"Lloyd, try this," Kratos set down a plate of what first seemed a kind of omelet. On the insider, however, was an assortment of rice, vegetables and a type of meat. On top, a light sauce was drizzled over.

"Hmmm…that looks familiar," Genis mumbled to himself, trying to remember where he had seen the dish.

"Alright!" Lloyd took up his fork and prepared to sample the food.

"Ah! Now I remember!" Genis snapped his fingers, then he blanched and turned to his friend, "Gah! Wait Lloyd, that has a lot of toma-"

Genis stopped as he realized the bite had already been taken.

"-toes," he finished lamely.

Lloyd paled and began to choke on the mouthful, and after a few pounds to his chest, he swallowed it down.

"Don't do that to me, Genis!" he coughed, "I nearly choked. And besides, I don't taste any tomatoes."

"But-"

"Trust me…I would know," Lloyd gave a few shivers as he recalled the taste of his tongue's bane.

"That is because I did not use tomatoes," although it was very slight, Kratos gave a little shutter at the word, but his face did not show it, "Lloyd… does not like tomatoes…correct?"

"I abhor the evil vegetable!" Lloyd stuck his tongue out.

"Hey nice use of vocabulary!" Sheena congratulated him.

"But they are fruits," Presea added.

"I know! But I won't give them the satisfaction of calling them by their proper name! I'll spite them by saying they're vegetables even after they have strived so long to be recognized as the fruit class!"

_**Whaat**_ The whole room only gaped at the ridiculousness of the boy's comment.

"Umm…I do not think that they will mind much…" Presea said.

"Don't bother with him. He's been like that ever since I taught him that in school. He was ecstatic to have something over them," Raine sighed and continued eating.

Lloyd ignored them and said to Kratos, "But how did you know?"

The barest hint of a smile came to Kratos's lips as he said, "You never did like them, even as a child. But you did like this, so I always made it for you."

"It does not appear that you like them either, Kratos," Regal smirked slightly, and Kratos gave an almost invisible twitch.

"Aha! A weakness!" Zelos sprung up from the table and in his hand- a ripe, red tomato, "Open up!"

He made a dash for the other red haired swordsman and waved the fruit in his face. In a flash it was over: Zelos was on the floor by Kratos holding his arm behind his back, and the innocent tomato lay skewered to the table by a fork.

"I do not suggest you that again," Kratos said in a low voice.

"Lloyd! Call him off!" Zelos cried out, "Uncle, uncle!"

"Hey, I'm his son, not his handler. That's what you get for trying to mess with an Aurion and his hatred for tomatoes."

At this remark, Kratos stiffened slightly and glanced at his son from the corner of his eye.

"Lloyd…" he barely whispered.

"That reminds me, Lloyd. What exactly is your name now that you know Kratos is your dad?" Collette asked.

Genis noticed Kratos tense ever so slightly, and guessed that was what he had wanted to know.

"Oh that? I decided that a while ago," Lloyd took a toothpick and began to chew on it, "If it's alright with both my dads, I'd like it to be Lloyd Irving Aurion. I've never had a middle name, so Irving will be that, and Aurion can be my last."

Kratos abruptly let go of Zelos, and swiftly left the room without a word.

"Hey, dad!" Lloyd jumped out of his chair and followed him outside.

Kratos had stopped just outside the front door, and was staring out into the clear blue sky.

"Dad!" Lloyd caught up and looked up into his father's face, "Hey, dad? I'm sorry. Did you not want that or something…?"

"No, no," Kratos nodded his head and smiled, "I think it's a wonderful idea. It's just that I never thought I would have my Lloyd Aurion back."

"Hmm?"

"At first I thought I had lost you. Then I found you again, except then you were Lloyd Irving. I knew you were my son…and it's only really a name but…you were not really mine anymore. You had a new life, and a new father who had raised you well. It is probably foolish of me…now that you have chosen my name for yours, it is like you are truly mine again."

"…"

"Do not misunderstand. You are my son no matter what, and I would support whatever name you chose."

"Yeah, I gotcha," Lloyd smiled and rested an arm on his father's shoulder, "Congratulations! You officially got yourself a son!"

Kratos stared at him for a second, than broke out into a small smile.

"And besides, this saves me from the embarrassment of my parents picking a weird middle name," Lloyd feigned looking slightly relieved.

"Yes. Your mother certainly had some… "colorful" ideas for that."

"Really?"

"Because "Lloyd" means "grey" she wanted to pick a middle name with more color. She was thinking of trying flower names."

"Geh! No way!" Lloyd looked genuinely horrified, "Don't tell me my real middle name-"

"No, lucky for you, we had never gotten around to it," Kratos smirked.

"Okay! Aurions! Front and center! We're getting ready to leave!" Raine's voice boomed from the living room. For them, there was no need to yell, but that just wouldn't be very Raine, now would it.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After an hour's worth of flying upon the Rheairds, the Gaoracchia Forest came to sight.

Raine called out to the other party members, "Alright, the plan is to land in front of the southwest opening and-"

"Wait," Kratos interrupted and looked closely at the foliage. Suddenly Lloyd perked his ears and shouted out, "Everyone! Land behind these mountains! The forest is full of enemies!"

**Yay!!Another chapter!! If there is anything you want to see more of, let me know. I want to try to balance the story out with different types of techiniques, but if you prefer one or the other, my ears are wide open (which really doesn't make sense since they're hardly ever closed). And do not worry, there will be plenty of YUan, Angel stuff, fighting, Lloyd going psyko with power (mehehe), and Oyako.**

**Shiro:Y'know guys, I really don't see how you don't like tomatoes. They're one of my favorites.**

**Kratos: Vile things.**

**Lloyd: Favorite vegetables or fruits?!**

**(Shiro whacks Lloyd over head with rubber chicken from gym class)**

**Shiro: Oh, give it a rest.**

**Lloyd: Ha! That didn't even hurt!**

**Shiro: Fine. (proceeds to throw shotput from gym class at Lloyd's head)**

**Lloyd: OW!**

**Shiro: Don't worry, it won't affect your intelligence.**

**Lloyd: Hey!!**

**Shiro: Hmmm...This reminds me of an old song a friend of mine made up a long time ago:**

**(Sung to the _Clementine_ song)**

**Oh tomato, oh tomato, oh tomato, clementine.**

**When you eat them, they squirt out acid, and make everyone go blind.**

**Kratos/ Lloyd:...?**

**Shiro: Obviously, she is not too fond of tomatoes herself.**


End file.
